Latin: Calocedrus decurrens
Plant type: Evergreen tree
Size: 50’-80’ x 10’-15’
Light: Full sun or light shade
Water: Drought tolerant to moderate water
Family: Cypress
Zone: 5 to 8
The Incense Cedar is a beautiful, large, evergreen, coniferous tree with a dense, pyramidal habit. The deep green foliage, which occurs in scale-like sprays on flat branchlets, is fragrant when crushed. Deep grooves run vertically through the cinnamon-brown bark. Small cones open in late summer and resemble duck’s bills.
Incense Cedars perform best with ample winter moisture and require supplemental irrigation where winters are drier. [19] They are tolerant of high summer heat, poor soils, and can grow under the dappled shade of higher-branching oaks. They initially grow slowly, then 2’-3’ per year once established. [25] They are useful as specimens, wind breaks, and screening plantings. Plant with other natives such as Mahonia aquifolium, Quercus kelloggii, Ribes speciosum, Heuchera, and Iris douglasiana.
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