Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don

vernacular western redcedar — species · Cupressaceae

USDA: THPL
GBIF: 2684171
Rank: species

western redcedar (Thuja plicata) — Platephotograph · Nicholas SlyCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Gymnosperm
Family: Cupressaceae Gray
Genus: Thuja

§2a

Native status, by region

AK Alaska Native
CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 5 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 5 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: Low
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Low
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Medium
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 180 min.
Precipitation: 30–120 in/yr
pH range: 5.1–7.1
Root depth: 30 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Slow
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 150 ft
Height @ 20 y: 40 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Dense
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 414,400
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Contracting Only
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: Yes
Fuelwood: Medium
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 5 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 5 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/THPL ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2684171 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z