Incense cedar
Not a cedar. The flat sprays are the field mark, and pencils are made of it.
In brief
Calocedrus decurrens, Cupressaceae.
- Evergreen tree, to 50 m
- Native to California, Oregon, Nevada and Baja California
- Pollen in winter and early spring
- Fruit a small cone that opens in two scales
Where it grows
Mixed conifer forest and foothill woodland through the Sierra Nevada and the Klamath ranges, often on drier ground than the pines beside it.
When it blooms
It sheds pollen in late winter, early enough to be the first conifer here to do anything at all.
Seed and fruit
A cone about two centimeters long that opens into two spreading scales, close enough in shape to a duck's bill to name it.
Here
Photographed on August 30, 2026.
The leaves are scales rather than needles, and each one runs a long way down the twig before its tip breaks free. That is what gives the spray its flat jointed shape, and it is what separates the tree from the true cedars, which it is not related to.
The wood is soft, straight-grained and holds a groove, which is how it became the standard wood for pencils.
By Yggdrasil Springs
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