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

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

ous trees in the cypress family

Cupressaceae Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdio ...

first described as a genus in 1873. It is native to

eastern Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

and western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The generic name ''Calocedrus'' means "beautiful cedar".

Description

The genus is related to the '' Thuja'', 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 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 Ishi ( – March 25, 1916) was the last known member of the Native American Yahi people from the present-day state of California in the United States. The rest of the Yahi (as well as many members of their parent tribe, the Yana) were kill ...

used this wood to produce short bows.

Lumber

The wood of ''Calocedrus'' is soft, moderately decay-resistant, and with a strong spicy-resinous fragrance. That of ''C. decurrens'' is the primary material for wooden pencils, 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 A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...

manufacture in China, due to the scent of the wood and its decay resistance. It is likely that past over-exploitation is responsible for their current rarity. Incense cedar was the preferred hearth board of the Native Peoples of

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

for lighting fires by friction.

Cultivation

''Calocedrus decurrens'', the California incense cedar, is a popular

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

, grown particularly in locations with cool summer climates like Britain, Washington and British Columbia. 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. The California incense cedar is also valued for its drought 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