A native we do not grow
Alaska Yellow Cedar
Callitropsis nootkatensis. Large tree, 30 to 50 feet where planted, zones 4 to 9; full sun or part shade; average or wet ground.
We do not grow Alaska yellow cedar, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.
At a glance
| Other names | Alaska cedar, yellow-cedar, Nootka cypress, Alaska cypress, yellow cypress, Nootka falsecypress, Nootka cedar |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 30 to 50 where planted; up to 200 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 25 |
| Zones | 4 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen |
| Pollen | March to May |
| Fruit | Cones, September to October |
| First crop | 7 to 8 years |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Lifespan | Usually lives 500 to 750 years and can live 1,834, and the oldest dated one reached 1,452. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes, rocky ground, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 4 states |
Alaska yellow cedar is native in 4 states: Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America, the Fire Effects Information System and the Wildflower Center.
What our tools say
How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil How far from a house, wires and a septic field What grows with it in the wild and in a yard When to plant it where you live When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month How to sow its seed, with dates for your place Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes How old one is, from its trunk How a big one scores against the champion trees
For the same ground, we grow
These trees we grow share the most of Alaska yellow cedar's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.
Balsam Poplar
Populus balsamifera Large tree Zones 2–5 30–100 ft
Shares swamps and wet flats in the wild.
Peachleaf Willow
Salix amygdaloides Medium tree Zones 2–8 35–60 ft
Shares swamps and wet flats in the wild.
Read from
Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Gymnosperm Database, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, Utah State University Extension, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, the Jepson eFlora, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, the Burke Herbarium and Oecologia.