Western redcedar is one of the great trees of the Pacific Northwest. Mature trees commonly reach 70 to 100 feet, and old ones flare into a broad, fluted base. The bark is thin and reddish brown, peeling away in long, fibrous strips. The largest known trees are thought to be more than 1,000 years old.
Its branches hang in flat, drooping sprays covered in tiny, overlapping scale leaves, glossy green on top. Turn a fresh spray over and you will often see whitish markings on the underside. The small, egg-shaped cones point upward near the branch tips. Redcedar handles deep shade and wet soil better than most of its neighbors, so it often takes over soggy ravines, streambanks and seeps.
The wood is soft but resists rot, and Native peoples of the Northwest coast used the tree for dugout canoes, houses, clothing and fishing nets. Wildlife use it too. Black-tailed deer and Roosevelt elk browse the foliage, woodpeckers, chickadees and swallows nest in its cavities, and bears and raccoons den in hollow trunks. Thin bark and shallow roots make younger trees easy to damage in a fire, though big old trees often survive.
How to identify it
Look for flat, drooping sprays of tiny scale leaves, glossy green above and often with whitish markings beneath. Bark is thin, reddish brown and shreds into long, stringy strips. Seed cones are small, about half an inch long, egg-shaped and held upright. Big trees flare into a buttressed, fluted base.
Look-alikes
Alaska yellow-cedar, found from middle to high elevations, has bluish green sprays whose scale leaves have spreading, prickly tips, round cones, and foliage that smells unpleasant when crushed. Redcedar's sprays are flatter and glossier, and its cones are egg-shaped.
Habitat
Wet ravines, streamsides, seeps and poorly drained bottoms in shady forest, most common from the lowlands to middle elevations. In Oregon it has been recorded from sea level to about 7,500 feet.
Sightings in the forest
546 research-grade sightings in Mt. Hood National Forest on iNaturalist, most recently on October 28, 2026. See them on iNaturalist →