CRATER LAKE Forests of Crater Lake National Park

WESTERN RED CEDAR (THUJA PLICATA)

On the west slope the careful observer may also note the western red cedar (Thuja plicata), a rapidly tapering tree, with cinnamon-brown bark, upturned branches, and remarkably long, flat sprays of foliage (fig. 22). The cones of western red cedar are small, about half an inch long, and are composed of 8 to 10 oval brown scales. They differ from the cones of incense cedar, whose elongated cone scales are 6 in number. Both cedars, instead of shedding their short, scalelike needles singly, lose many short lateral branchlets each year. Western red cedar is one of the important timber trees of the Northwest, occurring in the Coast Range, Cascade, and Rocky Mountains. From its light, durable, red wood is manufactured practically all of the shingles produced in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

Fig. 22—Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)