Northwest Native Plants   Western Red Cedar  

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Western Red Cedar - thuja plicata

Appearance

  • Evergreen tree
  • Small green scaly leaves
  • Brown small flexible dangly cones
  • 70 m tall
  • Grayish red bark
  • Soft thin bark that you can peel
 Western Red Cedar

Habitat

  • Wet soils
  • Forests
  • Drier lands

 Western Red Cedar

Growth Habit

  • Evergreen
  • In Spring it is green
  • In Summer it grows cones
  • In Fall its cones turn orange
  • In Winter it is still green
 Western Red Cedar

Natural History

  • It provides shelter for songbirds
  • Native Americans used it for clothes, shelter, dugout canoes, fishing nets, totem poles, floor mats, hats, blankets, dishes, and ropes.
  • People sell it for shingles,shakes and fence posts