Calocedrus decurrens

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Calocedrus decurrens
Calocedrus decurrens Yosemite NP.jpg
Tree in Yosemite National Park, California
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Gymnospermae
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Cupressales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Calocedrus
Species:
C. decurrens
Binomial name
Calocedrus decurrens
Calocedrus decurrens distribution.svg
Distribution of Calocedrus decurrens in the Western United States
Synonyms [2]
  • Abies cupressoidesPoir.
  • Heyderia decurrens(Torr.) K.Koch
  • Libocedrus decurrensTorr.
  • Thuja craiganaA.Murray bis
  • Thuja decurrens(Torr.) Voss

Calocedrus decurrens, with the common names incense cedar [3] and California incense cedar [4] (syn. Libocedrus decurrens Torr.), is a species of coniferous tree native to western North America. It is the most widely known species in the genus, and is often simply called incense cedar without the regional qualifier. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Description

Calocedrus decurrens is a large tree, typically reaching heights of 30–40 meters (100–130 ft) and a trunk diameter up to 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in). The largest known tree, located in Klamath National Forest, Siskiyou County, California, is 47.98 m (157 ft 5 in) tall with a 12 m (39 ft 4 in) circumference trunk and a 17.5 m (57+12 ft) spread. [8] Specimens form a broad conic crown of spreading branches. The bark is orange-brown weathering grayish, smooth at first, becoming fissured and exfoliating in long strips on the lower trunk on old trees. [9] Specimens can live to over 500 years old. [9]

The foliage is produced in flattened sprays with scale-like leaves 2–15 mm (3321932 in) long; they are arranged in opposite decussate pairs, with the successive pairs closely then distantly spaced, so forming apparent whorls of four; the facial pairs are flat, with the lateral pairs folded over their bases. The leaves are bright green on both sides of the shoots, with only inconspicuous stomata. [7] The foliage, when crushed, gives off an aroma somewhat akin to shoe-polish.

The seed cones are 20–35 mm (341+38 in) long, pale green to yellow, with four (rarely six) scales arranged in opposite decussate pairs; the outer pair of scales each bears two winged seeds, the inner pair(s) usually being sterile and fused together in a flat plate. The cones turn orange to yellow-brown when mature about 8 months after pollination. The pollen cones are 6–8 mm (14516 in) long. [7]

Distribution

The bulk of the tree's range is in the United States, from central-southwestern Oregon through most of California [9] and the extreme west of Nevada, as well as a short distance into northwest Mexico in northern Baja California.

It grows at altitudes of 50–2,900 m (160–9,510 ft).

Ecology

At lower elevations, associated trees include oaks and ponderosa pine. [9] Giant sequoia bears similarities to the species, but has sharp leaves. In the south–southwest U.S. some have confused bushy junipers for incense cedar. [9]

With its thick basal bark, [9] the incense cedar is one of the most fire- and drought-tolerant plants in California. Although the tree is killed by hot, stand-replacing crown fire, it spreads rapidly after lower-intensity burns. [10] This has given the incense cedar a competitive advantage over other species such as the bigcone Douglas-fir in recent years. Incense cedar is more shade tolerant than Douglas-fir, but not as much so as grand or white fir. It grows slowly when needed to outlast competition. [9]

This tree is the preferred host of a wood wasp, Syntexis libocedrii a species which lays its eggs in the smoldering wood immediately after a forest fire. [6] The tree is also host to incense-cedar mistletoe ( Phoradendron libocedri ), a parasitic plant which can often be found hanging from its branches. [11] Fire scars provide an entry point for Tyromyces amarus (pocket dry rot). [9] Gymnosporangium rust disease afflicts the trees, but is rarely fatal. [9]

For numerous birds during the wintertime, Calocedrus decurrens has been seen to be used for foraging. [12] According to the United States Department of Agriculture, in areas of the Western Sierra Nevada in California, numerous species of birds are thought to use the incense cedar as a "foraging substrate" so that they can attain as much food as needed. [12] Human impacts on these trees due to forest management practices have caused issues for many of these birds, threatening the use of the incense cedar as a forage substrate. [12]

Uses

The wood is soft and light, and has a pleasant odor and is generally resistant to rot. It has been used for external house siding, interior paneling, and to make moth-resistant hope chests. [9] It was once the primary material for wooden pencils, because it is soft and tends to sharpen easily without forming splinters. [9]

Native Americans

Indigenous peoples of California use the plant in traditional medicine,[ how? ] basket making, hunting bows, building materials, and to produce fire by friction. [13] A Northern California tribe used branchlets to filter out sand from water when leaching toxins from acorn meal; foliage also served as a flavoring. [9]

The Maidu Concow tribe name for the plant is hö'-tä (Konkow language). [14]

Cultivation

Calocedrus decurrens is cultivated as an ornamental tree, for planting in gardens and parks. It is used in traditional, xeriscapic, native plant, and wildlife gardens; and also in designed natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects in California. It is valued for its columnar form and evergreen foliage textures.

The tree is also grown in gardens and parks in cool summer climates, including the Pacific Northwest in the Northwestern United States and British Columbia, eastern Great Britain and continental Northern Europe. In these areas it can develop an especially narrow columnar crown, an unexplained consequence of the cooler climatic conditions that is rare in trees within its warm summer natural range in the California Floristic Province. Other cultivated species from the family Cupressaceae can have similar crown forms. [15]

Award of Garden Merit

This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, [16] and has the cultivar 'Berrima Gold'. [17]

Essential oils

Various species in the family Cupressaceae can be utilized for the creation of essential oils. [18] Scientific studies have shown that these essential oils have "strong antimicrobial properties." [18] Antimicrobial properties are those properties of a substance that lower the levels of microbes, such as bacteria and viruses. These antimicrobial properties could potentially be used for therapies in developing countries, although more testing and clinical trials should be done before such measures are implemented. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Cedrus</i> Genus of plants (coniferous trees)

Cedrus, with the common English name cedar, is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae. They are native to the mountains of the western Himalayas and the Mediterranean region, occurring at altitudes of 1,500–3,200 m in the Himalayas and 1,000–2,200 m in the Mediterranean.

<i>Thuja</i> Genus of conifers

Thuja is a genus of coniferous tree or shrub in the Cupressaceae. 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. Members are commonly known as arborvitaes, thujas or cedars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cupressaceae</span> Cypress family of conifers

Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera, which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or (rarely) dioecious trees and shrubs up to 116 m (381 ft) tall. The bark of mature trees is commonly orange- to red-brown and of stringy texture, often flaking or peeling in vertical strips, but smooth, scaly or hard and square-cracked in some species.

<i>Cupressus macrocarpa</i> Species of conifer

Hesperocyparis macrocarpa also known as Cupressus macrocarpa, or the Monterey cypress is a coniferous tree, and is one of several species of cypress trees endemic to California.

<i>Chamaecyparis lawsoniana</i> Species of conifer

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, known as Port Orford cedar or Lawson cypress, is a species of conifer in the genus Chamaecyparis, family Cupressaceae. It is native to Oregon and northwestern California, and grows from sea level up to 4,900 feet (1,500 m) in the valleys of the Klamath Mountains, often along streams.

<i>Platycladus</i> Genus of conifers

Platycladus is a monotypic genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, Platycladus orientalis, also known as Chinese thuja, Oriental arborvitae, Chinese arborvitae, biota or Oriental thuja. It is native to northeastern parts of East Asia and North Asia, but is also now naturalised as an introduced species in other regions of the Asian continent.

<i>Calocedrus</i> Genus of conifer trees

Calocedrus, the incense cedar, is a genus of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae first described as a genus in 1873. Three species are native to eastern Asia and one to western North America.

<i>Libocedrus</i> Genus of conifers

Libocedrus is a genus of five species of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to New Zealand and New Caledonia. The genus is closely related to the South American genera Pilgerodendron and Austrocedrus, and the New Guinean genus Papuacedrus, both of which are included within Libocedrus by some botanists. These genera are rather similar to the Northern Hemisphere genera Calocedrus and Thuja: in earlier days, what is now Calocedrus was sometimes included in Libocedrus. They are much less closely related, as recently confirmed. The generic name means "teardrop cedar", apparently referring to drops of resin.

<i>Cupressus pygmaea</i> Species of conifer

Cupressus pygmaea, the Mendocino cypress or pygmy cypress, is a taxon of disputed status in the genus Cupressus endemic to certain coastal terraces and coastal mountain ranges of Mendocino and Sonoma Counties in northwestern California. It is a variable tree, and closely related to Cupressus abramsiana and Cupressus goveniana, enough to sometimes be considered conspecific with them.

<i>Austrocedrus</i> Species of plant

Austrocedrus is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family (Cupressaceae). It has only one species, Austrocedrus chilensis, native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and the adjacent drier steppe-forests of central-southern Chile and western Argentina from 33°S to 44°S latitude. It is known in its native area as ciprés de la cordillera or cordilleran cypress, and elsewhere by the scientific name as Austrocedrus, or sometimes as Chilean incense-cedar or Chilean cedar. The generic name means "southern cedar".

<i>Papuacedrus</i> Genus of conifers

Papuacedrus papuana is a species in the conifer family Cupressaceae, the sole species in the genus Papuacedrus. Some botanists do not consider this species as forming a distinct genus, but include it in the related genus Libocedrus. It is native to New Guinea and to the Indonesian Province of Maluku.

<i>Phoradendron</i> Genus of mistletoes

Phoradendron is a genus of mistletoe, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas. The center of diversity is the Amazon rainforest. Phoradendron is the largest genus of mistletoe in the Americas, and possibly the largest genus of mistletoes in the world. Traditionally, the genus has been placed in the family Viscaceae, but recent genetic research acknowledged by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group shows this family to be correctly placed within a larger circumscription of the sandalwood family, Santalaceae.

<i>Calocedrus formosana</i> Species of conifer

Calocedrus formosana is a conifer endemic to Taiwan.

<i>Calocedrus macrolepis</i> Species of conifer

Calocedrus macrolepis, commonly known as Chinese incense-cedar; is a species of conifer native to southwest China, northern Vietnam, northern Laos, extreme northern Thailand and northeastern Myanmar.

<i>Libocedrus bidwillii</i> Species of conifer

Libocedrus bidwillii, also called pāhautea, kaikawaka or New Zealand cedar, is a species of Libocedrus, endemic to New Zealand. It is in the cypress family Cupressaceae.

<i>Libocedrus plumosa</i> Species of conifer

Libocedrus plumosa, with the common name kawaka, is a species of Libocedrus that is endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Cupressus forbesii</i> Species of conifer

Cupressus forbesii, now reclassified by some as Hesperocyparis forbesii, and with the common names Tecate cypress or Forbes' cypress, is a nonflowering, seed bearing tree species of cypress native to southwestern North America.

Phoradendron libocedri is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common name incense-cedar mistletoe. It is native to western North America from Oregon to Baja California, where it grows in forests on its host tree, the California incense-cedar.

Calocedrus huashanensis is an extinct incense-cedar species in the family Cupressaceae described from a group of isolated foliage fossils including stems and leaves. The species is known from Oligocene sediments exposed in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. It is one of a number of extinct species placed in the living genus Calocedrus.

References

  1. Farjon, A. (2013). "Calocedrus decurrens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2013: e.T42210A2962006. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42210A2962006.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. "Calocedrus decurrens (Torr.) Florin". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 6 January 2017 via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  3. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Calocedrus decurrens". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  4. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  5. Thieret, John W. (1993). "Calocedrus decurrens". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 2. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  6. 1 2 Powers, Robert F.; Oliver, William W. (1990). "Libocedrus decurrens". In Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H. (eds.). Conifers. Silvics of North America. Washington, D.C.: United States Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Vol. 1 via Southern Research Station.
  7. 1 2 3 Farjon, A. (2005). Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN   1-84246-068-4
  8. "Incensecedar (Calocedrus decurrens)". American Forests. Archived from the original on 2017-01-07. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Arno, Stephen F.; Hammerly, Ramona P. (2020) [1977]. Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees (field guide ed.). Seattle: Mountaineers Books. pp. 149–155. ISBN   978-1-68051-329-5. OCLC   1141235469.
  10. Franklin, Janet; Spears-Lebrun, Linnea A.; Deutschman, Douglas H.; Marsden, Kim. 2006. Impact of a high-intensity fire on mixed evergreen and mixed conifer forests in the Peninsular Ranges of southern California, USA. Forest Ecology and Management. 235(1-3): 18-29. [65016]
  11. Hawksworth, Frank G.; Wiens, Delbert (1993). "Phoradendron libocedri". In Hickman, James C. (ed.). The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University and Jepson Herbaria.
  12. 1 2 3 Morrison, Michael L.; Dahlsten, Donald L.; Tait, Susan M.; Heald, Robert C.; Milne, Kathleen A.; Rowney, David L. (1989). "Bird foraging on incense-cedar and incense-cedar scale during winter in California". Res. Pap. PSW-Rp-195. Albany, Ca: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. 16 P. Berkeley, CA. 195: PSW–RP–195. doi:10.2737/psw-rp-195. hdl: 2027/umn.31951d028890389 .
  13. University of Michigan—Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany of Calocedrus decurrens
  14. Chesnut, Victor King (1902). Plants used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California. Government Printing Office. p. 404. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  15. Mitchell, A. F. (1996). Alan Mitchell's Trees of Britain. Collins ISBN   0-00-219972-6.
  16. "Calocedrus decurrens". RHS. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  17. "Calocedrus decurrens 'Berrima Gold'". RHS. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  18. 1 2 3 Ibrahim, Taghreed A.; El-Hefnawy, Hala M.; El-Hela, Atef A. (2010-10-10). "Antioxidant potential and phenolic acid content of certain cucurbitaceous plants cultivated in Egypt". Natural Product Research. 24 (16): 1537–1545. doi:10.1080/14786419.2010.489049. ISSN   1478-6419. S2CID   42694118.