Callitropsis nootkatensis

Alaska cedar

Family: Cupressaceae · Type: tree · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Alaska cedar is a native tree found in the Klamath Ranges of Del Norte and Siskiyou counties on cool, moist, well-drained mountain slopes at elevations of 20 to 2,500 meters. The tree produces small, yellow pollen cones that are 2.4 to 4 millimeters long, developing in distinctive two-dimensional, pendent clusters. Growing 20 to 30 meters tall with a pyramidal shape when young, it has a unique bark that ranges from orange-red to gray-brown and purple-brown, which is fibrous and tends to peel. Its leaves are scale-like, closely appressed and overlapping, arranged in four ranks and appearing green without a glaucous coating. Seed cones are small and spherical, ash-gray in color, typically 6 to 12 millimeters wide, containing fewer than 15 brown to red-brown seeds that mature in the second year.

Habitat: Cool, moist, forested, well-drained mountain slopes

Elevation: 20-2500 m

Bioregions: KR (Del Norte, Siskiyou cos.)

California counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Siskiyou

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.