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Calocedrus decurrens
Also called Bastard Cedar, Incense cedar, California Post Cedar, White Cedar, Californian Incense Cedar
A large coniferous tree from western North America, most often grown as a landscape or forestry specimen rather than a houseplant. The key to growing it is giving it deep, well-drained soil and room for its broad, columnar crown.
Calocedrus decurrens, with the common names incense cedar and California incense cedar (syn. Libocedrus decurrens Torr.), is a species of coniferous tree in the cypress family, Cupressaceae, native to western North America. It is the most widely known species in the genus, and is often simply called incense cedar without the regional qualifier.
The bulk of the tree's range is in the United States, from central-southwestern Oregon through most of California and the extreme west of Nevada, as well as a short distance into northwest Mexico in northern Baja California.
The wood is soft and light, and has a pleasant odor and is generally resistant to rot. It has been used for external house siding, interior paneling, and to make moth-resistant hope chests. It was once the primary material for wooden pencils, because it is soft and tends to sharpen easily without forming splinters.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Calocedrus decurrens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
