Alaska Yellow Cedar

Alaska Yellow Cedar grows abundantly in British Columbia, edging north to Alaska and south along the Cascades into Washington and Oregon. Its yellow, hard grained wood rivals that of its Red Cedar cousin (though the Yellow Cedar is a cypress). It is easily identified among natives with its overlapping scale-like needles that give off a resinous odor when crushed. It is often used as an ornamental. It grows to 90’ tall and can live 1,000 years. Although called “Alaskan Cedar,” it is not often found there; this yellowish evergreen is also called the Nootka Cypress and Yellow Cedar reflecting where it was first identified on Vancouver Island. Its numbers are dropping dramatically because when logged, their areas are being replanted with Douglas Fir. A member of the Cupressaceae Family, it grows by Kiosk 13.  Pilchuck Learning Center’s sponsored Western Washington State University SAM Project extinction possibility is slight; it is still abundant, native to Cascadia Floristic Region but with little threat of extinction with protection provided by national parks and private ornamental (farm and garden) plantings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callitropsis_nootkatensis
http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=chamaecyparis+nootkatensis
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Kiosk-13.pdf
https://burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Callitropsis%20nootkatensis

The lifespan of a Sitka or Nootka Yellow Cedar is ~how many years?

100
10,000
1,000

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