''Calocedrus'', the incense cedar (alternatively spelled incense-cedar), is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of coniferous

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s in the cypress family Cupressaceae first described as a genus in 1873. It is native to eastern Asia and western North America. The generic name ''Calocedrus'' means "beautiful cedar".

Description

The genus is related to the ''

Thuja ''Thuja'' ( ) is a genus of coniferous tree or shrub in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia. The genus is monophyletic and sister to ''Thujopsis''. M ...

'', and has similar overlapping scale-leaves. ''Calocedrus'' differs from ''Thuja'' in the scale leaves being in apparent whorls of four (actually opposite decussate pairs like ''Thuja'', but not evenly spaced apart as in ''Thuja'', instead with the successive pairs closely then distantly spaced), and in the

cones A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

having just 2–3 pairs of moderately thin, erect scales, rather than 4–6 pairs of very thin scales in ''Thuja''.

Species

Extant Species

Extinct Species

Uses

Bows and Arrows

Incense cedar was one of the favored varieties of wood used to make bows by Native Americans in California. Like Juniper, and Pacific Yew, the other two coveted bow woods among Pacific Natives, this wood has excellent flexibility and compression strength-weight ratio. When backed with sinew, it produces extremely flexible, fast, hard-hitting bows, which are rivaled only by horn-sinew composite bows for their ability to store and release elastic energy. The archer Saxton Pope observed that Ishi used this wood to produce short bows.

Lumber

The

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

of ''Calocedrus'' is soft, moderately decay-resistant, and with a strong spicy-resinous fragrance. That of ''C. decurrens'' is the primary material for wooden

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...

s, because it is soft and tends to sharpen easily without forming splinters. The two Asian species were (at least in the past) in very high demand for coffin manufacture in China, due to the scent of the wood and its decay resistance. It is likely that past

over-exploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...

is responsible for their current rarity. Incense cedar was the preferred hearth board of the Native Peoples of Northern California for lighting fires by friction.

Cultivation

''Calocedrus decurrens'', the California incense cedar, is a popular ornamental tree, grown particularly in locations with cool summer climates like

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

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. Its very narrow columnar crown in landscape settings, an unexplained consequence of the climatic conditions in these areas, is not shown by trees in their native 'wild'

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

. The California incense cedar is also valued for its

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

tolerance. The Asian species are rarely cultivated.Munz, P. A. 1974. Flora of Southern California 1–1086. University of California Press, Berkeley.

References

External links

Arboretum de Villardebelle - cone photos
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calocedrus Decurrens Trees of the Western United States Trees of China Trees of the Northwestern United States Trees of the Southwestern United States Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Conifer genera