Port Orford Cedar

(Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)

Color Photograph: U.S. Forest Service

Port Orford Cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)

Identifying Characters: The combination of the typical Chamaecyparis cones, the scales tightly pressed against the branchlets, and the flat foliage will identify this species.

Similar Species: This species may occur with Alaska Cedar in the southern reaches of that species range. The apices of the scales of Alaska Cedar project freely from the branchlets and are not closely appressed to the branchlet as in Port Orford Cedar. The female cones of Alaska Cedar contain 4 to 6 cone scales, but Port Orford Cedar has 8 to 10 cone scales.

Measurements: Port Orford Cedar is a tall, slender tree with a spire-like crown and drooping branches. Trees range in height between 80 and 200 feet with a diameter of between 2 and 4 feet at breast height.

Cones: Cones about 0.4 inches in diameter, usually in clusters; color red-brown; cone consisting of 8 to 10 cone scales.

Leaves: Scale-like, opposite in 4 rows; length about 1/16 inches; color dull green above, whitish below with a glandular dot.

Bark: Red-brown, very thick, and deeply divided into long fibrous ridges.

Native Range: Port Orford Cedar grows in a small area near the Pacific coast, from about latitude 40° 50' to 43° 35' N. in southern Oregon and northern California. It is most important on uplifted marine terraces and in the Coast Ranges of southern Coos County and northern Curry County, Oregon. A secondary concentration is found at high elevations in the upper reaches of the Illinois and Klamath River drainages near the Oregon State boundary. Throughout the rest of its range, Port Orford Cedar is found as small, scattered populations, most common in the drainages of the middle Rogue, upper Illinois, Smith, lower Klamath, and lower Trinity Rivers. A major inland disjunction includes small populations of the upper Trinity and Sacramento River drainages southwest of Mount Shasta, California. (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.)

Habitat: Port Orford Cedar is primarily a coastal species and found in a variety of clay or sandy loams.