The Cedars 47 



It is a small tree, averaging about 45 ft. in height and 1 ft. in trunk diameter 

 but sometimes reaching a height of 80 ft. and a diameter of 3 ft. 



The trunk is short and much tapered, while the crown is conical, dense, long, 

 and narrow. When grown in the open it has a very trim, artificial appearance, 

 and is, therefore, much used for ornamental planting. 



The bark is reddish-brown in colour, thin, and shreddy, often with a spiral 

 twist. 



The leaves are minute and scale-like, in pairs on opposite sides of the twig, 

 and arranged in four rows. They are evergreen and completely cover the fan-like 

 branchlets, overlapping like the shingles on a roof. When crushed they give out 

 a very pleasant aromatic odour. 



The cones are small, >^ to % in. long, composed of eight to twelve pale 

 cinnamon-brown scales, which are arranged opposite in pairs. The seeds are 

 winged and two in number under each scale. 



Cedar is Canada's most durable coniferous wood, and has long been held in 

 high esteem for shingles and building construction where exposed to the weather. 

 The tree is the most important material in Canada for telegraph and telephone 

 poles, especially in the shorter length classes. It is also a valuable railway 

 tie material, and is used extensively for fence-posts and rails. In the form of sawn 

 lumber the wood is used in greatest quantities in house construction, boat-building, 

 tanks, cisterns, and straight stave cooperage. 



THUJA PLICATA, Don. WESTERN CEDAR 



Common names: Western cedar, red cedar, western red cedar, 

 British Columbia cedar, British Columbia red cedar, 

 giant cedar, giant arbor-vitae. 

 French name: Thuja geant. 



In Canada the western red cedar is confined to British Columbia, being found 

 on the Pacific coast northward as far as Alaska, and throughout the southern 

 portion of the province and the Columbia-Kootenay valley. It is usually found 

 on moist sites in deep, porous soil on cool slopes and in gulches, and occasionally 

 on comparatively dry sites, but here, however, it is stunted. It occurs singly or 

 in scattered patches. No pure stand of any size is found. In the north it usually 

 associates with the Sitka spruce and yellov\r cypress and further south with the 

 western hemlock and Douglas fir. 



It is a very large tree. Its height is 150 to 175 ft. or even more, and the dia- 

 meter of the trunk 4 to 8 ft. or more. The trunk is very much tapered, and the 

 butt is usually very much swollen. Except where the tree is very much crowded, 

 the branches remain on the lower part of the trunk until it reaches the diameter 

 of 13^ ft. or more, and thus produce a long, conical crown. 



The bark is thin, and, like that of the eastern white cedar, is divided by shallow 

 grooves into broad ridges which break into long, loose shreds. 



The leaves are similar to those of the eastern white cedar and cover the flat 

 sprays in the same manner. They may be mistaken for those of the yellow cypress 

 at first sight, but a comparison will show them to have the points of the leaves less 



