Incense Cedar

Incense cedar is a large, long-lived conifer native to the mountains of California, Oregon, Nevada, and northern Baja California, growing from low foothills to elevations above 9,000 feet. In gardens it typically develops a narrow columnar to broadly pyramidal form and works well as a tall screen, windbreak, or solitary specimen on large properties.

It tolerates clay, loam, or sandy soils but requires good drainage; waterlogged conditions promote root disease. Once established it is notably drought tolerant, suiting it well to western North American summers. Growth is moderate in youth and slows with age. Bark on older trees is reddish-brown, deeply furrowed, and fibrous; the flat-sprayed, scale-like foliage is strongly aromatic when crushed. A soil pH of 5.0–7.5 is acceptable. In colder portions of its range, young trees benefit from windbreak protection during their first one or two winters.

The wood is extremely decay-resistant and is the primary material used worldwide for pencil casings—most cedar pencils are made from incense cedar, not from true cedars. Indigenous peoples of California and Oregon used the split wood for construction, bows, and stakes, and wove the fibrous bark into baskets and mats.