Alaska-cedar

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Site Gene iad | Alaska- An American Wood
Apictlnee Cedar

FS-224

Alaska-cedar, one of the most durable
of American woods, has a fine, even
texture; straight grain; and clear yellow
color. It is used wherever durability,
acid resistance, stability, smooth-
wearing qualities, and workability are
needed. Production has been low in the
past, largely because the species is
scattered and the cost of logging is
high. Availability is increasing,
however, as logging for other species
progresses to poorer sites and higher
elevations. Much of the lumber and
most logs are now exported to Japan.
Domestic use is expanding with efforts
to market lower grades of Alaska-cedar
lumber. j

An American Wood

Alaska-Cedar
(Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach)
A.S. Harris!

Distribution Ns VY,

The natural range of Alaska-cedar ex- SZ /
tends from northern California to Ne
Prince William Sound, Alaska (fig. 1). <<

found within 150 miles of the Pacific
coast. Isolated stands at Mount Emily Z.
and Mount Grayback in Siskiyou vo Vi vA
County, Calif., near the Oregon border
mark its southern limit. In Oregon and
Washington, Alaska-cedar occurs in the
Cascade Range and Olympic Moun-
tains, and scattered populations are
found in the Coast Ranges and in the
Aldrich Mountains of central Oregon.
In British Columbia and north to Wells
Bay in Prince William Sound, Alaska,
it grows on the islands and in a narrow
strip along the coastal mainland. An
exception in British Columbia is an
isolated stand near Slocan Lake about
450 miles inland.

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Except for a few isolated stands, it is LES WS hy
SS ¥ i 3

Alaska-cedar grows at elevations of
2,000 to 7,500 feet in the Cascade
Range in Oregon and Washington and
occasionally down to sea level on the
Olympic Peninsula and the west coast
of Vancouver Island. On the southern
British Columbia mainland, it usually
occurs between 2,000 and 5,000 feet,
but grows at gradually lower elevation
as the range reaches northward and is
found at sea level at Knight Inlet. From
there, north and west to Prince William
Sound in Alaska, it is found from sea
level to tree line, which varies from
3,000 feet in southeast Alaska to 1,000
feet near Prince William Sound.

Alaska-cedar occasionally grows in
pure stands but usually singly or in
scattered groups mixed with other tree
species which change with latitude.
Alaska-cedar may be found with the

(e) 100 200 300 400 MILES
' Principal Silviculturist, U.S. Department of a eer é
Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest ©) 200 400 600 KILOMETERS
Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forestry

Sciences Laboratory, Juneau, Alaska. Figure 1—The natural range of Alaska-cedar. F-532738

Z

An American Wood

following species within their respective
ranges:

Scientific name
Abies magnifica
Picea brewerana
Incense-cedar Libocedrus decurrens
Pacific yew Taxus brevifolia
Western white pine Pinus monticola
Mountain hemlock Tsuga mertensiana

Common name
Shasta fir
Brewer spruce

Subalpine fir Abies lasiocarpa
Whitebark pine Pinus albicaulis
Pacific silver fir | Abies amabilis
Noble fir Abies procera
Western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla
Western redcedar Thuja plicata
Shore pine Pinus contorta var.
contorta
Sitka spruce Picea sitchensis

Alaska-cedar is confined to areas with
a cool, humid climate. The growing
season is short, but winters are not ex-
ceptionally severe. Snowfall is heavy
over much of its range. The tree grows
on a variety of soils. It grows and
develops best on deep, well-drained
soils, but is seldom found on the better
sites because of competition from faster
growing associates. More frequently it
occurs on thin organic soils over
bedrock, and it survives and grows on
soils that are deficient in nutrients.
Alaska-cedar is common in ‘‘scrub’’
stands on organic soils at low and
subalpine elevations in Alaska.

Description and Growth

Alaska-cedar is slow growing and long
lived. Growth rates of 80 rings per
inch are not uncommon, and rates of
360 rings per inch have been noted.
Slow growth, coupled with durability
of the wood, gives the tree great
longevity. In Alaska, many suppressed
trees 2 to 6 inches in diameter are
more than 300 years old; many domi-
nant and codominant trees 24 to 36
inches in diameter are more than 700
years old. Extremely old trees have
been reported; one hollow tree 70
inches in diameter had 1,040 growth
rings in the 12-inch outer shell.

Growth is especially slow at timberline,
and trees may resemble sprawling

Figure 2—Bark of Alaska-cedar.

shrubs. Roots may reach out as far as
100 feet, much of the distance at the
surface. Sprouting from roots and
rooting of buried branches are com-
mon. The tree survives heavy loads of
snow because of its narrow, flexible
crown and drooping branches. Its sup-
ple form helps it survive on avalanche
tracks.

In Washington, the dominant trees on
better sites are usually 100 to 125 feet
tall; in British Columbia, they are 36
inches in diameter and 75 to 100 feet
tall; and in Alaska, dominant trees are
often 24 inches in diameter and 80 feet
tall, although larger trees are common.
The largest specimen on record is in
Olympic National Park, Wash. It is 12
feet in diameter, 120 feet tall, and has
a 27-foot crown spread.

Trunks may be fluted and swollen at
the base and taper sharply where
growth is especially slow. Many trees
lean slightly. The bark on old trees is
one-half to three-fourths of an inch
thick, brown or gray on the outside,

F-302877

and cinnamon brown inside. The bark
surface is irregularly broken by
shallow, vertical seams, between which
the bark separates and curls into nar-
row flakes (fig. 2). Flaking of bark is
pronounced on the protected sides of
slightly leaning trees, but on the un-
protected sides bark is usually
weathered to a fibrous, matted
condition.

The small, scalelike leaves are pressed
closely to twigs in an overlapping pat-
tern of four rows, giving a squarish
cross section to the branchlets. Leaves
are dull blue- or gray green, and have
sharp, prickly, spreading points.
Branchlets hang down from heavy
branches in flattened, fernlike sprays,
giving the tree a weeping appearance.
The crown is narrow and conical; in
some trees it looks ragged because the
branchlets are widely separated. When
trees are small, the leaders are slender
and whiplike.

Flowering occurs from April in the
southern part of the range to June in

An American Wood

the north. In Alaska, seeds ripen in
mid-September and are shed during dry
periods in the fall and early winter.
Empty cones may remain on trees for
several years.

Mature cones are about one-half of an
inch in diameter, globe shaped, and
have small spikes jutting out from the
shield-shaped scales (fig. 3). The cones
are light green when immature but
change gradually to yellow brown and
brown as they mature. Cones usually
develop in 2 years, but in the southern
part of the range they are likely to
mature in 1 year. Both first- and
second-year cones may occur on the
same branch.

Common Names

Alaska-cedar is the preferred common
name in the United States; yellow-cedar
is the common name preferred in
Canada. Recent Canadian trade names
are Pacific coast cypress and Pacific
coast yellow-cedar. Other common
names are Alaska yellow-cedar, yellow
cypress, Nootka false-cypress and
Nootka cypress.

Related Commercial Species

Related species in the United States are
Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis
lawsoniana) and Atlantic white cedar
(Chamaecyparis thyoides). The three
American species are quite similar in
appearance, and their woods are so
closely related that they can be
distinguished only by microscopic
examination.

Supply

In the late 1970’s, estimates place the
total volume of Alaska-cedar sawtimber
at 29.6 billion board feet. About 72
percent of this volume is in British
Columbia, 21 percent in Alaska, and 7
percent in Washington and Oregon.

Because trees are often scattered and at
high elevations, much of the timber is
inaccessible. But as logging moves to

4

Figure 3—Foliage and cones of Alaska-cedar.

higher elevations and poorer sites,

more Alaska-cedar timber is becoming
available. There is little reliable infor-
mation on the amount accessible now.

Production

Long-term production statistics are not
available because in many reports the
cut of Alaska-cedar has been combined
with that of western redcedar and other
softwoods. Production has been limited
and the supply erratic over the years.
In the past, only selected trees in the
better stands were logged; now, much
of the harvest results from clearcutting
mixed stands for pulpwood. As lower
grade logs are produced, marketing
practices are changing and uses are
being developed for lower quality
lumber.

Only a small amount of Alaska-cedar
now finds its way into domestic

F-521065

markets in the United States and
Canada. Most of the annual cut is
exported, chiefly to Japan, in the form
of cants (squared-off timbers) and logs.

Characteristics and Properties

The wood of Alaska-cedar resembles
that of Port-Orford-cedar and Atlantic
white cedar in appearance and proper-
ties. The heartwood is a bright, clear,
sulfur yellow. The sapwood is narrow,
usually lighter in color, and is often
difficult to distinguish from heartwood.
Annual growth rings are faintly visible
in flat-grained lumber or rotary-cut
veneer and are virtually absent in
vertical-grained lumber. The wood has
fine texture and straight grain. It is
classed as moderately heavy and is
moderate in strength, stiffness, hard-
ness, and shock resistance. The average
specific gravity is 0.42, based on oven-
dry weight and green volume. Average

\

An American Wood

air-dry weight at 12-percent moisture
content is about 30 pounds per cubic
foot.

The wood has a high oil content and is
strongly aromatic. The odor has been
described as resembling raw potatoes or
turnips and serves to identify Alaska-
cedar at once. Because of the high oil
content, electrical moisture meters may
fail to give true values without special
calibration. Some people suffer allergic
reactions to the foliage or freshly cut
wood.

Unlike most softwoods, the wood
shows no marked difference between
earlywood and latewood. This gives the
wood a uniform texture and makes it
ideal for carving, veneers, joinery, and
any product where smooth wear is
desirable. It works well by hand or
machine tools and has a slightly dulling
effect on cutting edges. The wood takes
a smooth finish, but where the grain is
wavy there is a slight tendency toward
roughness after planing. Nail-holding
power is not as good as in other woods
of equal density but improves as the
wood ages.

Alaska-cedar glues well under con-
trolled conditions, more easily with
resin glues than with nonresin glues.
Some users recommend washing sur-
faces with heated turpentine before
gluing. Tests have shown that although
Alaska-cedar laminated with resorcinol-
phenolformaldehyde glues delaminates
more readily than other woods of
similar densities, it will stand up
satisfactorily under weather tests for at
least 18 months. Laminated Alaska-
cedar is acceptable for marine use.

Alaska-cedar seasons readily, and
l-inch and 1-1/2 inch lumber may be
kiln-dried on the same schedule as
western redcedar, with an estimated
drying time of 4-1/2 to 6 days to
achieve 7 percent moisture content. For
2-inch lumber a drying time of 5 to 7
days is needed to achieve 8 percent
moisture content. When properly dried
the wood stays in place well and has

little tendency to shrink or swell. Some
longitudinal shrinkage may occur if
compression wood? is present; although
kiln-drying helps relieve stresses, it
will not completely eliminate them.
Careful selection to avoid compression
wood is recommended for long, narrow
stock.

Alaska-cedar is extremely durable. The
heartwood is reputed to resist attack by
marine borers. The wood has been
used in ship construction for a long
time, and records show that after 15
years of service under severe condi-
tions, Alaska-cedar remained sound
when other timbers had to be replaced.
The wood has been used in Japan for
temples because of its resistance to
termites.

The secret to the great durability of
Alaska-cedar is in the chemistry of the
heartwood. Among the many chemical
compounds that have been extracted,
nootkatin, a tropolene, inhibits fungal
growth at concentrations of 0.001 to
0.002 percent. Durability is affected by
heating; when the wood is heated for 1
hour at 149° C (300° F), its durability
may be lowered by 25 percent. Certain
black-stain fungi are capable of
degrading nootkatin, thereby increasing
the susceptibility of the heartwood to
subsequent decay. Trees often attain
great age, and heart-rotting fungi cause
considerable defect in older trees.

Because of its natural durability, the
wood is seldom treated with preser-
vatives, and little information is
available on their use. Tests indicate it
is difficult to penetrate the wood with
preservatives because of its high natural
oil content.

2 Compression wood is found in zones on the
lower side of inclined trunks and branches. It is
often darker in color and has a smoother ap-
pearance than the surrounding wood. The growth
rings, which are wider than elsewhere, lack con-
trast between the early wood and latewood, and
appear to be made up mostly of denser latewood.
Compression wood exhibits high longitudinal
shrinkage and is lower in practially all strength
properties than normal wood.

Alaska-cedar is in the top category of
woods on which paints adhere well,
when applied correctly, and give good
service. In Alaska, however, some
trouble with paint holding on boats has
been reported, possibly because the wet
climate makes it difficult to dry the
wood before painting. The natural oil
prevents the wood from absorbing oil-
based paints readily, and the surface
must be well prepared before painting,
especially after kiln-drying. Where
good paint and varnish adhesion is
essential, as on boats, surfaces may be
heated and dried with a blowtorch, then
primed with red lead before applying
the final coats. Another method is to
expose surfaces to the weather as long
as convenient, then prime with paint or
varnish heavily diluted with pure
turpentine. More drying time is needed
after painting than with most other
softwoods.

Alaska-cedar has good insulating prop-
erties and is more resistant to fire

than some species. In tests where
1-5/8-inch-thick roof decking was sub-
jected to a gas flame, the average times
for flame to burn through were 22
minutes for western redcedar, 26
minutes for Douglas-fir, and 44
minutes for Alaska-cedar.

Principal Uses

Because of its durability, resistance to
acid, smooth-wearing quality, stability,
and workability, Alaska-cedar has a
wide variety of uses. Its value in ship-
building has long been recognized. In-
dians of the northwest coast of North
America carved canoes from it, and
Russian colonists of Alaska used it in
constructing the hulls of some 20
steamers built at their Sitka shipyards
between 1840 and 1863. The wood is
now used for canoes, racing shells,
skiffs, fishing boats, tugs, scows,
barges, and yachts.

It is also used for outdoor items such
as signs, garden furniture, greenhouses,
window frames and screens, window
boxes, stadium seats, power poles, and

2)

An American Wood

marine piling. Industrial uses include
water tanks, cooling towers, acid-
storage tanks, vats, chemical con-
tainers, benches, walks, and other uses
where contact with acid is likely.

Alaska-cedar is used where severe ex-
posure to weather, heavy traffic, and
shock loads are encountered, such as
for heavy flooring, bridge and dock
decking, and bedding for heavy
machinery. Other construction uses in-

clude framing, roof decking, exposed
beams and posts, and concrete forms.

Indoors it is used for molding, sashes,
doors, furniture, cabinets, shelving,
paneling, and flooring. It is also used
for canoe paddles, patterns, veneer
cores, toys, and musical instruments.

Alaska-cedar has been used as lining
for closets and boxes to repel moths. In
fact, in the 19th century it was prized

in China where it was imported and
made into trunks and chests under the
name of “‘camphor wood.’’

The wood was used in many ways by
the northwest Indians of British Colum-
bia and Alaska—for canoes, canoe pad-
dles, totem poles, fishhooks, masks,
hats, and rattles. The bark was used in
basketry, twisted into string or rope,
and mixed with mountain goat wool to
be woven into blankets.

References

Arno, Stephen F. Interpreting the
timberline: an aid to help park
naturalists to acquaint visitors with
the subalpine-alpine ecotone of
western North America. San Fran-
cisco, CA: U.S. Department of the
Interior, National Park Service,
Western Regional Office; 1967.

206 p.

Barton, G.M. A review of yellow
cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis
(D. Don) Spach) extractives and their
importance to utilization. Wood and
Fiber 8(3): 172-176; 1976.

Bender, F. Cedar leaf oils. Dep. For.
Publ. 1008. Ottawa, ON: Canada
Department of Forestry, Forest Prod-
ucts Research Branch; 1963. 16 p.

British Columbia Forest Service. Forest
inventory statistics of British Colum-
bia, 1967. Victoria, BC: British Co-
lumbia Forest Service, Department of
Lands, Forests and Waters; 1969.
194 p.

Earl, Derek. Yellow cedar
(Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D.
Don) Spach). Q.J. For. 52(3):
204-207; 1958.

England, R.F.; Stahl, E. Marine
laminating properties of selected
wood species: outdoor exposure—
Alaska yellow-cedar (Chamaecyparis
nootkatensis), western larch (Larix
occidentalis). BuShips, Index No.
SR007-03-02, Indent. No.
37-1004-2, Prog. Rep. E-412-L3.
Bremerton, WA: Puget Sound Naval
Shipyard; 1963. 5 p.

Fitzpatrick, H.M. Conifers: keys to the
genera and species, with economic
notes. R. Dublin Soc. Sci. Proc.
Series A 2(7): 67-129; 1965.

Fowells, H.A., comp. Silvics of forest
trees of the United States. Agric.
Handb. 271. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Agriculture; 1965.
762 p.

Franklin, Jerry F.; Trappe, James M.
Plant communities of the northern
Cascade Range: a reconnaissance.
Northwest Sci. 37(4): 163-164;
1963.

Frenkel, Robert E. An isolated occur-
rence of Alaska-cedar
(Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D.
Don) Spach) in the Aldrich Moun-
tains, central Oregon. Northwest Sci.
48(1): 29-37; 1974.

Harris, A.S. Alaska-cedar, a
bibliography with abstracts. Res.
Pap. PNW-73. Portland, OR: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Pacific Northwest Forest and
Range Experiment Station; 1969.

47 p.

Hartman, Kay. National register of big
trees. Am. For. 88(4): 17-31,
34-48; 1982.

Hepting, George H. Diseases of forest
and shade trees of the United States.
Agric. Handb. 386. Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture;
1971. 658 p.

Little, Elbert L., Jr. Checklist of
United States trees (native and
naturalized). Agric. Handb. 541.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of Agriculture; 1979. 375 p.

vz U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING

Perry, R.S. Yellow-cedar: its
characteristics, properties, and uses.
Bull. 114. Ottowa, ON: Canada
Department of Northern Affairs and
National Resources, Forestry Branch;
1954. 19 p.

Rennerfelt, Erik; Nacht, Gertrud. The
fungicidal activity of some consti-
tuents from heartwood of conifers.
Sven. Bot. Tidskr. 49(3): 419-432;
1955.

Resch, Helmuth; Ecklund, Barton A.
Moisture content determination for
wood with highly volatile constit-
uents. For. Prod. J. 13(11):
481-482; 1963.

Scheffer, T.C.; Eslyn, W.E. Effect of
heat on the decay resistance of wood.
For. Prod. J. 11(10): 485-490; 1961.

Smith, Roger S.; Cserjesi, A.J.
Degradation of nootkatin by fungi
causing black heartwood stain in
yellow cedar. Can. J. Bot. 48(10):
1727-1729; 1970.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Forest Products Laboratory.
Wood handbook: wood as an
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72. Rev. ed. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Agriculture; 1974.
428 p.

Revised February 1984

OFFICE : 1984 O - 415-844 (Item 1)