26. Western Red Cedar

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Yielding first place to its associate the Douglas fir, this cedar, along with western hemlock, ranks second in the "top ten" of Pacific Northwest tree importance. To native Indians, cedar was more useful than fir or any other tree. And its wood, although less strong, is more rot resistant, fragrant and prized for shingles, decking, and so forth. The bark is fibrous, stringy, red tinged, on a singularly fluted, buttressed trunk. The sprays of yellow-green foliage are fragrant, scaly and set with small cones no bigger than peanuts. Cedar is shorter than Douglas fir, but makes trunks as thick, and lives as long. The campus has plenty of both.

Pictured below: Map showing geographical range of Western Red Cedar.

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