Leave are Scale-like, opposite pairs, in four rows, folded in one pair but not in the other and overlapping like shingles. Arranged on the twigs in flat, fan-like sprays. Very strong aroma.
Pollen cones are small and reddish.
Bark are gray, stringy, tearing off in long strips on mature trees. It typically occurs at low to mid elevations along the coast and in the wet belt of the Interior of North Western of North America, along Oregon, Washington and British Columbia , where the climate is cool, mild, and moist. Western red cedar grows best in moist to wet soils, with lots of nutrients. It is tolerant of shade and long-lived, sometimes over 1,000 years. Western red cedar frequently grows with western hemlock and Douglas-fir.