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botanacity · 6 years

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Yellow-Cedar

Yellow-Cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis)

Other Common Names: Nootka Cypress, Alaska Cedar, etc.

Other Latin Names(?!): Chamaecyparis nootkatensis, Xanthocyparis nootkatensis and Cupressus nootkatensis

Height, Girth: 40-50m, ~90cm

Habit: Conical shoot with droopy branches

Leaf: Scale-like with dark upper surface, and a lighter surface on the underside.

“Flowering” Time: March-June

Habitat: Northwest coast of North America

An evergreen monoecious tree from the cupressaceae (cypress) family. It seems as if there was a mistake in nomenclature, possibly when plant hunters first entered into the region, which explains why it is most commonly called a cedar tree. I am unaware of the full history of this event, but I would be very happy if some privy individual reading this could share the answer. The term “Nootka,” in its common name, originates from an inaccurate name given to Native Americans by Europeans (Russel, 2012). As for the Latin name, it seems to depend on which resource you are using, as I have seen all of them used at one point or another. I prefer to use Callitropsis Nootkatensis, but Cupressus nootkatensis seems to be more widely accepted. The lifespan of C. nootkatensis has been documented as old as 1636 and 1834 years (Earle, 2018)! C. nootkatensis is shade tolerant and a slow growing tree. The wood of the tree is rot-resistant, and is good for wood carving, canoe-building, and more (Farrar, 2017).

I wanted my first post to include a little story.

C. nootkatensis is a really important tree from my childhood. When I was a child I had a fully grown yellow-cedar tree in front of my home, and I affectionately named it Herman (after the author of Moby Dick). My friends and I would use Herman’s seed (female) cones as “ammo” for war games, and we compartmentalized spots in the tree to be our “rooms.”

Herman stood next to the power lines, and grew past the pole that held the transformers. One of my friends climbed next to a power line one day, and my mother (scared witless) forbade us from climbing high in that tree. Days later, I overheard my mother planning to cut Herman down, I quickly climbed the tree and sang, (well more like sobbed,) “I Shall Not Be Moved,” over and over until she promised not to cut him down. She then made me, a ten year old child, sign a contract. There were limitations placed on how many people could climb Herman at a time, and how high we could climb. For years Herman gave me a place where I could be alone and feel safe and I love him very much. Unfortunately, I moved away from that home a couple years ago, and I couldn’t find any photos of just him anywhere, so I got the photo from a media commons instead.

References:

Photograph from Walter Siegmund, under Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Wsiegmund#/media/File:Cupressus_nootkatensis_7436.jpg

Earle, C. J. (2018). Cupressus nootkatensis (Alaska yellow-cedar) description. Retrieved September 30, 2018, from https://www.conifers.org/cu/Cupressus_nootkatensis.php

Farrar, J. L. (2017). Trees in Canada. pp 28-30. Ottawa: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd.

Russel, T. (2012) Smithsonian Nature Guide Trees. pp 44. New York: Dorling Kindersley Ltd