374 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



COAST WHITE CEDAR 



White Cedar, Cedar. 



Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) BSP. 

 C. sphaeroidea Spach ; Cupressus thyoides L. 



HABIT A small tree, 20-50 ft. in height with a trunk diameter of 

 1-2 ft., further south reaching 90 ft. in height and a trunk diameter of 

 4 ft.; trunk tall, erect, tapering gradually, branches short, slender, more 

 or less horizontal, with delicate feathery secondary branches and 

 branchlets loosely enveloping the narrow conical head and surmounted 

 by an airy, pliant, plume-like terminal shoot. 



BARK Grayish-brown, separating off in narrow shreddy strips, more 

 or less spirally twisted; on younger and sometimes also on older 

 trunks the bark separates off in broader reddish-brown strips, (see 

 photograph of young trunk). 



TWIGS Generally less than 1.5 mm. thick, slightly but not 

 prominently flattened, arranged in more or less fan-shaped clusters in 

 planes at various angles, the last season's growth bluish-green from the 

 complete covering of minute leaves, with death of leaves the second 

 season becoming reddish-brown, older growth slowly losing its leaves 

 and marked by scars of deciduous branchlets. Photograph of twig is 

 about % natural size. 



LEAVES Minute, scale-like, 1-2 mm. long, appressed and closely 

 overlapping, opposite in 4 ranks, but not giving a conspicuously 4-sided 

 appearance to the twigs, more or less keeled and with a raised glandular 

 dot at least on leaves of rapidly grown shoots, with spicy aromatic odor 

 when crushed. 



FRUIT Small, spherical cones, 5-8 mm. in diameter, inconspicuous in 

 winter, opening toward the center never toward the base, maturing 

 the first season and persistent through the winter. SCALES thickened, 

 woody, shield-shaped, with a slight projection in middle, each perched 

 on a stalk connecting it with the center of the cone; seeds winged. 



COMPARISONS The Coast White Cedar resembles the Arbor Vitae 

 as indicated under this species but its twigs are only slightly flattened, 

 the clusters of twigs are less distinctly fan-shaped, the twigs and leaves 

 are smaller and the leaves are of a bluish rather than of a yellowish- 

 green. The cones are distinctive being spherical and with thickened 

 shield-shaped scales perched on stalks connecting them with the center. 

 Aside from the fruit characters which separate them, the Coast White 

 Cedar is distinguished from the Red Cedar by the more or less distinct 

 fan-shaped arrangement of its twigs, the absence of two kinds of leaves, 

 the more distinct glandular dot generally present on the leaf and by 

 the fact that the twigs are round or slightly compressed in section 

 and not distinctly 4-sided as are those of the Red Cedar. 



DISTRIBUTION In deep swamps and marshes, which it often fills 

 to the exclusion of other trees, mostly near the seacoast. Cape Breton 

 island and near Halifax, Nova Scotia, perhaps introduced in both; 

 southward, coast region to Florida and west to Mississippi. 



IN NEW ENGLAND Maine reported from the southern part of York 

 county; New Hampshire limited to Rockingham county near the coast; 

 Vermont no station known; Massachusetts occasional in central and 

 eastern parts, very common in the southeast; Rhode Island common. 



IN CONNECTICUT Rare in western and central districts; Danbury 

 and New Fairfield, becoming occasional or frequent eastward. 



WOOD Light, soft, not strong, close-grained, slightly fragrant, light 

 brown, tinged with red, largely used in boat building, and cooperage 

 and for woodenware, shingles, the interior finish of houses, fence posts 

 and railroad ties. 



