# Alaska Yellow Cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis)

> Alaska yellow cedar, Callitropsis nootkatensis: a large tree of 30 to 50 feet where planted, for zones 4 to 9, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/alaska-yellow-cedar/

![Three Alaska yellow cedar crowns with drooping branch sprays and nodding tops against a blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/alaska-yellow-cedar-1000.jpg?v=578fd34a "Alaska yellow cedars at Bear Lake in Siskiyou County, California, on August 13, 2010. On average it lives about 500 to 750 years.")
*Photo: JOE BLOWE, [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACupressus_nootkatensis_at_Bear_Lake%2C_Siskiyou_County%2C_California_7.jpg))*

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

| Fact | Alaska Yellow Cedar |
| --- | --- |
| 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AK), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Oregon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OR) and [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA). 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](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar): the planting-window tool
- [When it sheds pollen and bears cones, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=alaska-yellow-cedar): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar): the tree age calculator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Black Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-cherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus serotina*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes in the wild.
- [Tamarack](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/tamarack/index.html.md) (*Larix laricina*): large tree, 50 to 75 feet, zones 2 to 6. Shares swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Balsam Poplar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/balsam-poplar/index.html.md) (*Populus balsamifera*): large tree, 30 to 100 feet, zones 2 to 5. Shares swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md) (*Prunus virginiana*): small tree, 20 to 30 feet, zones 2 to 10. Shares rocky ground in the wild.
- [Every companion of Alaska yellow cedar in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=alaska-yellow-cedar)

## 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.