![]() ![]() Some trees may have flattened branches that droop or “weep” more than others. ![]() In the Landscape: There is some variability in the growth habit of Alaska Cedar. The scale-like leaves are prickly when stroked backwards. When you expose the yellowish, inner bark, it smells like raw potatoes. The grayish-brown, shaggy bark can be peeled off in long, vertical strips. They ripen to brown, woody cones with 4 to 6 mushroom-shaped scales with a point in the top center of each scale. The cones begin as round, bumpy, whitish-green berries. If you stroke the branchlets the wrong way, they are very prickly. Wetland designation: FAC, Facultative it is equally likely to occur in wetland or non-wetland.ĭiagnostic Characters: The yellowish or bluish-green leaves are scale-like with sharp pointed spreading tips. In Northern British Columbia & Alaska it descends more often to sea level and is often associated with wet boggy forests. Habitat: Alaska Cedar grows in wet to moist sites, from the coastal rainforests to rocky ridgetops near the timberline in the mountains. Though the tallest known Alaska Cedar, on Vancouver Island, is 200 feet (60m) tall, they typically only grow 60-120 feet (18-36m). Some are known to have been over 1,800 years old. Growth: These graceful, relatively slow growing trees may be the oldest living trees in the northwest. In Washington and Oregon, it is found mostly in the Olympic Mountains and on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains. However, some propose that it should be placed in another genus, Xanthocyparis, (meaning “ Yellow cypress”) along with a newly discovered Vietnamese Golden Cypress.ĭistribution of Alaska Cedar from Silvics of North Americaĭistribution: Alaska Cedar is found along the coast from southeast Alaska through British Columbia. Botanists now place it in the genus, Callitropsis (meaning: beautiful turning). Relationships: There has been some controversy about its correct relationship and naming. It is sometimes listed as Cupressus nootkatensis, but it is thought to be sufficiently different from both Cupressus and Chamaecyparis and should belong to an entirely different genus. Most horticultural professionals know this species as Chamaecyparis nootkatensis. I like to mix terms and simply call it “Alaska Yellow Cedar.” Nootkatensis means “of Nootka Sound.” Nootka is a tribe that lived primarily on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Names: The Alaska Cedar is sometimes called Yellow Cypress, Nootka False Cypress or many similar variations. Alaska Yellow Cedar The Cypress Family-CupressaceaeĬallitropsis nootkatensis (D. ![]()
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