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( Thuja plicata)
Western redcedar (or W. red cedar) (Thuja plicata) is a species of Thuja, an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada, from southern Alaska and British Columbia south to northwest California and inland to western Montana. It is one of two arborvitaes native to North America; not a true cedar (Cedrus), but is the source of what are called cedar shingles. The foliage forms flat sprays with scale-like leaves in opposite pairs, with successive pairs at 90° to each other. The foliage sprays are green above, and green marked white with stomatal bands below. The cones are slender, 15-20 mm long and 4-5 mm broad, with 8-12 thin, overlapping scales. Western redcedar is a large tree, to 55-75 m tall and 3 m (exceptionally 7 m) trunk diameter. The Quinault Lake redcedar (left) is the largest known western redcedar in the world with a wood volume of 500&_160;cubic metres (17,700&_160;cu&_160;ft). By way of comparison, the largest known tree, a Giant Sequoia named General Sherman, has a volume of 1,480&_160;cubic metres (52,300&_160;cu&_160;ft). Located near the northwest shore of Lake Quinault north of Aberdeen, Washington, about 34 km from the Pacific Ocean, the Quinault Lake redcedar is 55.0 m high with a diameter of 6.04 m (Van Pelt, 2002). A redcedar over 74 m tall and 800 years old stood in Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, before it was set on fire and destroyed by vandals in 1972.[citation needed] It is among the most widespread trees in the Pacific Northwest, and is associated with Douglas-fir and western hemlock in most places where it grows. In addition to growing in lush forests, western redcedar is also a riparian tree, and grows in many forested swamps and streambanks in its range. The tree is shade-tolerant, and able to reproduce under dense shade.
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