Western Red Cedar Facts

Western Red Cedar Tree. A 60-feet tall tree with drooping branches, and a very wide trunk. When I was young, I believed the Cedar Tree, green in color, is what we call a Christmas tree. The following facts about these enormous trees will leave you wordless, for their beauty is insurmountable, grandeur is starry, and usage is extensive. After all, it's christened as the 'tree of life'.

• The official tree of British Columbia, the Western Red Cedar possesses drooping branches that turn up at tip in an interesting way. Also, it has a large number of cones that bend backwards, along the branches.
• The trunk spreads out widely at the base, making it look like much larger than it actually is.

• The scientific name for the Western Red Cedar is Thuja plicata, and it belongs to the Cupressaceae family.
• Areas that are shaded, cool, and moist are the favorite haunting ground of the Western Red Cedar. These trees usually grow in low-to-mid elevations, much in the interior of the land, well away from the sea shore.

• The Western Red Cedar is native to America and south-western Alaska, where they are commonly found. These trees are known to grow at a height of more than a thousand meters above the sea level, and grow in swamps and stream banks.

• If you want to know how to distinguish this cedar form other types, here's a solution. Check if the bark is a shade of gray, and it tears off in long strips on the older trees. If it does, it is the Western Red Cedar!

• A few Red Cedar trees that are located on Queen Charlotte islands are believed to be over 900 years old! Whoa!
• Did you know that, unlike other trees, the wood of Western Red Cedar is not affected by any damage by insects or any kind of decay?

• Like other types of cedar trees, Red Cedar tree cones are approximately 1cm long, and are in a shape of an ellipse, much like an egg. Approx. 8-14 seeds are present in one cone.
• The diameter of a Western Red Cedar can be somewhere around 22 feet! Also, its height ranges well between 40 feet to 150 feet!

These trees are used for making furniture, which lasts for a century! Yeah, you read that right, a hundred years. It is also used for fencing, decking, baskets, interior and exterior paneling, and much more.

Who knew that those trees you used to see in posters and computer wallpapers could actually bear so many advantages? They are undoubtedly beautiful, but apart from the superficial beauty, they are also supremely useful to us! This 'tree of life' stands tall for many decades, adorning the beauty of nature.