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| ## Atlantic white cedar {#atlantic-white-cedar .Title-Header}         |
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| *Chamaecyparis thyoides* (L.) B.S.P.                                  |
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| Plant Symbol = CHTH2                                                  |
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####### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of North America Program*

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.5972222222222223in" height="3.9in"}

**Alternate common names**

Southern white-cedar, white-cedar, swamp cedar

**Uses**

The wood is light, soft, close-grained, and slightly fragrant. It is
easily worked, resistant to decay, and shrinks and warps very little
during seasoning. It has been used for shingles, posts, woodenware, and
interior finishes, but primary current uses are for telephone poles,
piling, ties, siding, and boat railing. Many cultivars of Atlantic
white-cedar have been described (see Rehder 1949).

Heavy cutting for many commercial uses during this century has
considerably reduced even the largest stands, but it is still considered
a commercially important species in the major supply areas of
southeastern Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and northwestern
Florida.

Cultivars have been selected for shape and needle color -- they are
useful for naturalizing in wet areas.

**Status**

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values. Atlantic white-cedar is considered rare in
Georgia, Mississippi, Maine, Maryland, New York, New Hampshire, and
Maine.

**Description**

*General:* Cypress family (Cupressaceae). Native evergreen trees growing
to 20 (-28) meters tall; trunks to 0.8 (-1.5) meters in diameter. Bark:
reddish-brown, irregularly furrowed and ridged, peeling in long, fibrous
strips, often partially twisted around the trunk. Branchlets are terete
or rhombic in cross-section, in fan-shaped sprays, covered with dark
blue-green, overlapping scale leaves to 2 mm long; facial and lateral
leaves similar, usually with circular leaf glands. Seed cones are
globose, 4-9 mm broad, bluish-purple to reddish-brown at maturity, with
a somewhat crumpled appearance; scales 5-7. Native. The common name
reflects its occurrence on the Atlantic coastal plain and its
light-colored wood.

*Variation within the species*: populations of Atlantic white-cedar in
Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi have been segregated as *Chamaecyparis
henryae* Li (= *C. thyoides* var. *henryae* (Li) Little), based on
differences in bark, branchlets, leaves, and fruit, but the species also
is variable in the Atlantic coastal segment of its range and the Gulf
coast segregate has not generally been accepted.

Arborvitae (*Thuja occidentalis*) can be distinguished from Atlantic
white-cedar by its flattened branchlets with clearly differentiated
facial and lateral leaves and its ellipsoid seed cones.

*Distribution:* Atlantic white-cedar grows in a narrow coastal belt 80
to 210 km (50 to 130 miles) wide from southern Maine to northern Florida
and west to southern Mississippi. The scarcity of suitable growing sites
makes distribution of the species within the coastal belt very patchy.
The species is now classified as rare in Georgia, Mississippi, Maine,
Maryland, New York, New Hampshire, and Maine.

**Adaptation**

Atlantic white-cedar is found most frequently in small dense stands in
fresh water swamps and bogs, sometimes on sandy soils, but usually on
acidic muck (peat). The species is absent or uncommon in areas where
muck is underlain by clay or contains appreciable amounts of silt or
clay. Habitats in southeastern New Jersey range from about 1 meter
elevation, where the trees border the tidal marsh, to 43 meters in some
inland stands. The species currently grows in at least one upland bog in
northern New Jersey at an elevation of 457 meters.

**Establishment**

Trees of Atlantic white-cedar in open stands start bearing seed at 4-5
years, although these seeds may be relatively low in viability; trees in
dense stands begin cone production at 10-20 years. Fair to excellent
seed crops are produced each year.

Germination occurs in a variety of light conditions, even in very low
light intensity, but relatively open conditions are essential for good
survival and growth of Atlantic white-cedar seedlings in competition
with associates of shrubs and hardwoods (especially red maple, blackgum,
sweetbay, and others). Establishment in nature usually occurs following
disturbance of the canopy. Seedlings develop a very short taproot, and
successful establishment requires not only adequate surface moisture for
seed germination but also available moisture within reach of the shallow
root systems. Suitable seedbeds include moist rotting wood, *Sphagnum*
moss, muck, and moist mineral soil -- these on hummocks where standing
water is not present all year. Thick litter and slash are unfavorable
for germination and establishment.

Increases in height slow after about 50 years and stop after 100 years;
increases in diameter may continue at a relatively even rate up to 100
years. Stand age rarely exceeds 200 years, although some trees have
apparently have reached 1000 years of age.

**Management**

Because of the shallow root system, trees of Atlantic white-cedar are
extremely susceptible to windthrow, especially where they occur in
permanently saturated sites and where stands have been opened by partial
cuttings. Fungi and insects usually do not cause serious damage.

**Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)**

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

**References**

Li, H.L. 1962. A new species of *Chamaecyparis.* Morris Arboret. Bull.
13:43-46.

Little, S. & P.W. Garrett 1990. *Chamaecyparis thyoides*. Pp. 103-108,
in R.M. Burns and B.H. Honkala. *Silvics of North America*. *Volume 1.*
*Conifers*. USDA Forest Service Agric. Handbook 654, Washington, D.C.
\<http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/silvics_manual/Table_of_contents.htm\>

Michener, D.C. 1993. *Chamaecyparis*. Pp. 408-410, in *Flora of North
America, north of Mexico*. *Vol. 2*, *Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms*.
Oxford Univ. Press, New York, New York.
\<http://hua.huh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/Flora/flora.pl?FLORA_ID=12395\>

Rehder, A.J. 1949. *Bibliography of cultivated trees and shrubs hardy in
the cooler temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere*. Jamaica Plain.

**Prepared By**

*Guy Nesom*

Formerly BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

**Species Coordinator**

*Lincoln Moore*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Edited: 13nov00 jsp;10feb03 ahv; 05jun06 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

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