INCENSE CEDAR. 



17 



until the second season. With the appearance of the true leaves the 

 fanlike arrangement of the sprays is first apparent, the seedlings 

 usually developing in one plane for several years. 



The branchlets occur alternately, and in one plane, forming an 

 open fan-shaped spray, the smaller side branches of which are often 

 shed about the second year, as is the case with arborvitse and related 

 species. 



The main branches on younger trees are slender and taper gradu- 

 ally, the lower limbs slightly drooping but with upturned tips. 

 Higher up they are more erect, especially as they approach the top. 

 In old age the limbs become thick and angular, tapering rapidly and 

 turning up sharply at 

 the ends, assuming a 

 more or less candela- 

 bralike formation. 

 This is particularly 

 true of trees grown 



on poor sites. 



<& ^4 — -2^l — a 



FLOWERS, FRUIT, AND >&»_ %&K-— b 



SEED. 



'-_c? 



Fig. 2. — Cross section of a mature incense cedar 

 (taken 42 inches above the ground), a, old fire 

 scars ; 6, bark. 



Incense cedar has 

 male and female flow- 

 ers, which are borne 

 singly at the tips of 

 the twigs of the pre- 

 vious season, usually 

 on separate trees, but 

 occasionally on the 

 same tree and even 

 the same branch. 

 The male or pollen-bearing flowers appear in January as small oblong 

 conelike bodies about one-fourth inch long, and are conspicuous for 

 their golden-yellow color, which often tinges the whole tree during the 

 winter and early spring. The cones or female flowers, at first dark 

 green in color, are usually not noticable until somewhat later. In the 

 summer and fall, however, they turn a yellowish brown and in good 

 seed years are conspicuous by their abundance. Trees standing in 

 the open, even though small, are particularly noticable in this respect, 

 the entire crown frequently being covered with cones. In the fall 

 the cones turn to a russet brown, maturing about September. By 

 October they open and the seeds are distributed, the cones remain- 

 ing on the trees until the following spring or summer. 



11919°— 18— Bull. 604 3 



