WESTERN REDCEDAR
· “Tree of Life” / “Life Giver” for many coastal Indians. Some tribes called themselves “People of the Cedar.”
· Whole trees were felled for making the distinctive totem poles that were an integral part of some tribal culture, and for the extraordinary, well-known dugout cedar canoes necessary for transportation along the edges of the ocean’s coastal forests. The western redcedar is so well known for this that another of its many names is “canoe cedar.”
· Not a true cedar, just a northwest rainforest “giant.” The western redcedar is actually an arborvitae - a “false” cedar. The spelling of the name “redcedar” as one word indicates that this is not a true cedar.
· Average height ranges from 150-200 feet high.
· A fallen cedar can remain on the forest floor for well over a century. This durability is the result of a natural preservative that is toxic to decay-causing fungi. This ability does not decrease with age; in fact, it increases.
· Black bears den in the hollowed-out trunks of aged trees.
· Whole trees were felled for making the distinctive totem poles that were an integral part of some tribal culture, and for the extraordinary, well-known dugout cedar canoes necessary for transportation along the edges of the ocean’s coastal forests. The western redcedar is so well known for this that another of its many names is “canoe cedar.”
· Not a true cedar, just a northwest rainforest “giant.” The western redcedar is actually an arborvitae - a “false” cedar. The spelling of the name “redcedar” as one word indicates that this is not a true cedar.
· Average height ranges from 150-200 feet high.
· A fallen cedar can remain on the forest floor for well over a century. This durability is the result of a natural preservative that is toxic to decay-causing fungi. This ability does not decrease with age; in fact, it increases.
· Black bears den in the hollowed-out trunks of aged trees.