A native we do not grow
Incense Cedar
Calocedrus decurrens. Large tree, 30 to 80 feet where planted, zones 5 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.
We do not grow incense 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 | California incense cedar, California white cedar, California post cedar, post cedar, California calocedar, pecky cedar |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 30 to 80 where planted; up to 229 in its native stands |
| Spread, feet | Up to 20 |
| Zones | 5 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Slow |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Pollen | February to May |
| Fruit | Cones, August to November |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Lifespan | Lives up to 1,000 years, and the oldest dated one reached 533. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Planting season | Spring. Near Lake Tahoe, spring seedlings did better than fall ones, the Fire Effects Information System reports; the NRCS plant guide sets seedlings out in late spring or early summer. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Dry uplands, stream banks and the forest understory |
| Native in | 3 states |
Incense cedar is native in 3 states: California, Nevada and Oregon. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and the Jepson eFlora.
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 incense cedar's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.
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, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Wildflower Center, Cal Poly's SelecTree, Oregon State University's Landscape Plants, Utah State University Extension, the Gymnosperm Database and Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research.