VAL-20: White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis)

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White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis)

Common Name: White Cedar
Scientific Name: Thuja occidentalis
Other Names:

Leaf: Yellowish green, scale-like, aromatic; top and bottom scaled pressed flat to twig, with tiny glandular dots; turn slightly brownish in late fall and winter.
Flower: Male flower yellow; female pink; in April or May; solitary, at tips of different branchlets, on same tree.
Fruit: Cones green, egg-shaped; 6-12 mm long; in upright clusters on short curved stemps; turn reddish brown at maturity in late summer; tiny oblong brown seeds winged on both sides; wings same width as seeds; begin to bear cones at age 15-20.
Twig: Young twigs thin, flat, completely concealed by leaves; older twigs leafless, orange-brown; buds tiny.
Bark: On younger trees, smooth, shiny, cinnamon-coloured; cracking into papery scales; on older trees, gray, fibrous and shreddy; in long narrow flat ridges; ridges easily peeled off.
Wood: Aromatic; easily split and usually knotty; annual growth rings fairly distinct.

Fact about this tree
1. Cedar wood is known for its resistance to rot. It is commonly used for construction in and near water- in cedar-strip canoes, boats, fence posts, shingles and dock posts.
2. Native peoples used eastern white cedar to prevent scurvy and taught this practice to French settlers, giving rise to the nickname arborvitae, or ‘tree of life.’
3. Some of the white cedar trees on limestone cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment are over 700 years old.

Lat, Long: 43.73875,-79.82025
Diameter (DBH): 16.2 cm
Last Year Modified: 2015
Carbon Stored in this Tree: 24.47 kg of C
Equivalent CO2: 89.73 kg of C

Find more trees in valleywood.

Reference
1. Blouin, Glen. 2001. An Eclectic Guide to Trees East of the Rockies. Erin, ON. Boston Mills Press
2. Linda Kershaw. 2001. Trees of Ontario. Edmonton, AB Canada. Lone Pine Publishing
3. Photo Credit: Kathryn Chin; Daniel J. Kim, Wikimedia Commons

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