INCENSE CEDAR 



(Libocedrus Decurrens) 



IN California and Oregon this tree is known as white cedar, cedar, and 

 incense cedar; in Nevada and California it is called post cedar and 

 juniper, and in other localities it is red cedar and California post cedar. 

 It is a species of such strong characteristics that it is not likely to be 

 confused with any other. Though different names may be applied to it, 

 the identity of the tree is always clear. 



Its range extends north and south nearly 1,000 miles, from Oregon 

 to Lower California. It is a mountain species, and it faces the Pacific 

 ocean in most of its range. In the North it occupies the western slope 

 of the Cascade mountains in southern Oregon and northern California; 

 and it grows on the western slope of the Sierras for five hundred miles, at 

 altitudes of from 4,000 to 8,000 feet, where it is mixed with sugar pine, 

 western yellow pine, white fir, and sequoias. 



It is a fine, shapely tree, except that the butt is much enlarged. 

 It has the characteristic form of a deep swamp tree, but it has nothing to 

 do with swamps. Its best development is on the Sierra Nevada moun- 

 tains, where swamps are few, and the incense cedar avoids them. It 

 occupies dry ridges and slopes, but not sterile ones. It must have as 

 good soil as the sugar pine demands. Its height when mature ranges 

 from seventy-five to 125 feet, diameter four feet from the ground, from 

 three to six feet, but some trees are larger. It is not a rapid grower, 

 but it maintains its vigor a long time. As an average, it increases its 

 diameter an inch in from seven to ten years. 



The wood is dense. It contains no pores large enough to be seen 

 with an ordinary reading glass. The medullary rays are so small as to 

 be generally invisible to the naked eye, but when magnified they are 

 shown to be thin and numerous. The summerwood forms about one- 

 fourth of the annual ring. The wood is nearly as light as white pine, is 

 moderately strong, is brittle, straight grained, the heartwood is reddish, 

 the thick sapwood nearly white. It is an easy wood to work, and in 

 contact with the soil it is very durable. 



The incense cedar is the only representative of its genus in the 

 United States. It has many relatives in the pine family, but no near 

 ones. Its kin are natives of Formosa, China, New Zealand, New Guinea, 

 and Patagonia. 



The name incense cedar refers to the odor of the wood rather than 

 of the leaves. Those who work with freshly cut wood are liable to attacks 

 of headache, due to the odor; but some men are not affected by it. 



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