Plant Study
Western Red Cedar
Family Name: Cypress
Family Name: Cupressaceae
Latin Name: Thuja plicata (8)
Common Names: Giant Cedar, Arborvitae, Western Flat Cedar, Thuja, Pacific Red-cedar, Western Arborvitae, Giant Arborvitae
Native American Names:
Chehalis: lata’wi; p’alans
Cowlitz: nunk, tree; lot’sa’kes, cedar bark
Pa’lumkwi, shredded cedar bark
Lummi: x’pai’epi, whole tree; x’pai, buds; slowe’, bark
Makah: pi’ts op, bark, dried but not broken
Quileute: t’sa’p is, whole tree; t’sa ‘t’apis, plural
T’sapi’stat, branches; ya’ksa, long straight branches used for rope; t’sapi’stcit, cedar bark on tree;
Si’k’u’ya, bark peeled off
Quinault: t’ci ‘tum, whole tree; t’ci ‘tumcila’c, limb;
K’wilot, bark
Skagit: xaxpai’ats, tree; siuxwai, bark
Skokomish: q!we’le
Squaxin: xpa’yats ( 3:19)
Related Species:Thuja occidentalis
Body System Affiliations: Immune system
Botanical Description:
Habit: Tree
Size: 60m, 150-225 ft
Arrangement: Conical shape, buttressed at base with fluted, fibrous trunk
Leaves: Evergreen, flat, drooping, scale like, opposite pairs in 4 rows; one pair folded, other not; closely pressed to stem; rotated 90 degrees every node; yellow-green and glossy above, white stripes underneath
Nonflowering: Oval seed cones resemble tiny woody rose buds
Bark: Reddish brown to grey (with age); fibrous, tearing off in long strips
Twigs: Large, fanlike branches; spread/droop slightly and turn upward; flattened horizontally
Underground Parts: fine spreading roots
Ecology:
Habitat: Slightly acidic soils of mixed conifer forests; moist lowlands and middle mountains
Range: Sea level to 5400 ft; western Montana through Idaho, Alberta, British Columbia; to southern edge of Alaska Panhandle; south to northwestern California (7).
Ecological Relationships: Often present in pioneer, seral, and climax stages of forest succession (6).
Places/Dates Observed/Description: I have experienced this tree frequently in the Pacific Northwest, from as near as my backyard in west Olympia, to the forest and Longhouse gardens at Evergreen, to Flapjack Lake Trail at Staircase, and nearly every forest in between.
Propagation:
Technique: Prick seedlings of appropriate size out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5-8 cm with a heel, July/August in a shaded frame. Forms roots by the end of September but it should be overwintered in a frame. Cuttings of almost ripe wood, 5-10 cm with a heel, September in a cold frame. Forms roots in the following summer. Plant out in autumn or spring (5 on-line).
Timing: seed is best sown when ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed germinates best if given a short cold stratification. It can be sown in a cold frame in late winter. If growing large quantities of plants, the seed can be sown in an outdoor seed bed in mid spring. Grow plants for two years and then plant them out into their permanent positions in late autumn or early spring (5 on-line).
Harvest:
Plant Part: Fanlike branches of younger trees, sometimes referred to as “withes.”
Season of Harvest: Summer or fall (highest oil content) (2:209)
Method of Harvest: Cut with care
Cultural Considerations of Harvest: Considered the “tree of life” by many Northwest coast indigenous tribes, this tree has been greatly respected for its healing and spiritual powers. “The power of the redcedar was said to be so strong a person could receive strength by standing with his or her back to the tree” ( 1:42). Thus, before harvesting the leaves, ask the tree for permission to share in its healing powers and carefully remove leaves that want to be medicine.
Indigenous and Non-Western Use/Significance/Relationships:
Medicine:
Indigenous Group: Lummi
Part Used: Buds
Indications: Sore lungs
Part Used: Tips
Indication: Nausea during corpse burial
Energetics: Association with death
Part Used: Leaves and limbs
Applications: “Boy takes boughs he used to rub himself before a guardian spirit quest and fastens them to top of cedar tree; limbs used as broom to sweep off walls of house after removal of corpse” (3:20).
***
Indigenous Group: Chehalis
Part Used: Inner bark
Material Use:
Chehalis have shredded bark with deer-bone chopper by women for use as padding for infants’ cradles, sanitary pads, and towels. A courser grade is plaited into skirts and capes, and complete dresses for women.
Lower Chehalis have used cedar bark for clothing. Upper Chehalis have used it more for ceremonial head bands and for playing slahalem ( 3:19).
Medicine:
Indications: Used in delay of menses ( 3:19)
Harvest: Peel bark of small tree
Preparation: Bark chewed or decoction made to bring about menstration
Medicinal Application: Bark chewed or decoction
Medicinal Action: Abortifacent (7:558).
Cautions: Not used with suspected pregnancy ( 3:19)
***
Indigenous Group: Cowlitz
Part Used: Inner bark
Material Use: Have cut bark in varying widths, braiding the broader ones to serve as dishes and individual plates, and interweaving with maple to make larger platters (3:19).
Medicine:
Part Used: Buds
Indications: Toothache ( 3:19)
Application: Chewed
Part Used: Tips and roots ( 3:19)
Application: Decoction
Medicinal Actions: Cold medicine
***
Indigenous Group: Makah
Material Use: Makah have used cedar to make cradles and arrowshafts. They have woven narrow strips of bark into mats (for sails) and have been the only coast tribe in WA to attempt this. The Makah have stripped, soaked and twisted the limbs into heavy grade rope used in whale hunting, for towing dead whales ( 3:19). Makah have used the inner bark for basketry, and the wood has been used to make canoes, totems, boxes, fish barbeque sticks and the cross pieces (4:559).
Medicine:
Part Used: Boughs
Indications: Cough
Application: Infusion
Medicinal Action: Dermatological aid, used to rub face (4:559
Application: Pounded until soft
***
Indigenous Group: Quileute
Material Use: Quileute have made the hearth of a fire drill of cedar, as well as the spindle for spinning mountain-goat wool. They also have used cedar bark to make mat for use as a sail. They have made the lining and head band of the rain hat from the split bark, and have twisted soaked limbs into heavy rope for using during whale-hunting. They have used small cedar limbs to string pectin shells for use as a dance rattle. Quileute have used strips of the bark as drying storage for clams and smelts ( 3:20).Roots split have been made into baskets, while twigs have been used for drying the body after bathing. The bark has been used to make an overcoat for fishing during stormy weather. Quileute have used the wood to make dugout canoes and in the construction of housing, wigwams, summer houses and hunting lodges (4:560).
Medicine:
Part Used: Green bark juice
Application: Infusion
Use: Unspecified medicine
***
Indigenous Group: Quinault
Material Use: Quinault have treated canoe paddles by mixing the charcoal of cedar wood with salmon eggs and rubbing this on the paddles that are then held in pitch wood smoke and rubbed with green grass to produce a lasting shiny black. Quinault have used split cedar to make the lining and head band of the rain hat. They have used the limbs for openwork baskets and for weaving with vine maple sticks for fish weirs. Roots have been used for sewing the corners of wooden boxes. Limbs, stripped, twisted and soaked, have been used to make strong rope ( 3:20).
Medicine:
Part Used: Bark and twigs
Indication: Kidney problems
Application: Infusion
Part Used: Seeds and limbs
Indication: Fever; sores from veneral disease
Application: Infusion, wash
***
Indigenous Group: Squaxin
Material Use: Squaxin have made herring rake of cedar, and have used pliable roots underneath rotting logs in coiled and imbricated basketry (4:560).
***
Indigenous Group: Skokomish
Medicine:
Part Used: Buds
Medicinal Actions: Gargle ( 3:19)
Indications: Sore throat
Application : Decoction
***
Indigenous Group: Skagit
Material Use: Skagit have burned cedar limbs at night and waved them through the house to scare the ghost after death (3:20).
Medicine:
Part Used: Leaves
Indications: Cough
Application: Ends of leaves boiled
Western (European-American) Uses/Relationships:
Material Use: Resistant to rot, thus bark and trunk (wood) widely used for shingles, siding, utility poles, fence posts, boat building; leaf oil used as basis in production of perfumes, insecticides, medicinal preparations, veterinary soaps, shoe polishes, deodorants (5-online).
Medicine:
Part Used: New leaves of younger trees
Medicinal Actions: Antifungal, antibacterial, and stimulates innate immunity scavenging (2:209). It can increase resistance to chronic respiratory and intestinal infections.
Body System Associations: Immune system
Constituents: Plicatic acid, mearnsitrin, procyanidins, prodelphinidin, umbelliferon, p-coumeric acid, myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol-3-o-a-fhamnoside, catechin, gallocatechin, and volatile oils containing thujane, fenchone, umbelliferone (2:211).
Harvest: Gather fanlike braches of younger trees in summer or fall (highest oil content), and process for fresh plant tincture, or dry, and garble to remove the red stems.
Storage: The dried fans store well, will usually retain their aromatics and potency for several years
Preparation: Fresh herb tincture, 1:2; Glycerin tincture (fresh herb) 1:2, menstrum, 50% glycerin, 40% water, 10% alcohol; cold infusion, 2 to 3 fluid ounces
Indications: Fungal infections (tinea versicolor, athlete’s foot, ringworm, jock itch, nail fungi); Reproductive problems (chronic vaginitiis; enlarged male prostrate); Respiratory problems (mucus bronchial conditions); Urinary tract problems (chronic bladder and urethral irritability) (2:211).
Applications: Fresh tincture, with fresh glycerin tincture best applied to tender tissue; infusion. It can be combined with small amounts of California Snakeroot and Astragalus to broaden the type of responses (2:211-212).
Pharmacy: For fungal infections, apply tincture two or three times a day, with consistency, for up to a week.
For chronic vaginittis, with long sluggish menses, the infusion for a douche on alternating days and take some tea on the alternating trees.
For chronic, mucus heavy bronchial condtions, a teaspoon of tincture put into simmering water and steam inhaled.
Internal Cold infusion is effective for heavy boggy uterus with dull aches, long cycles, and frequent low level vaginal irritation, or for boggy enlarged male prostrate, with ache on urination or ejaculation, and periodic mucus in urine.
For chronic bladder and urethral irritability, take infusion twice daily (2:211)
Cautions: It is not for extended use by those with kidney weakness, nor is it appropriate for internal use during pregnancy (2:212).Internally large dosages are toxic. An allergic reaction to the plicatic acid in wood dust causes asthma (5-online).
Essential Oil Information:
Essential Oils: Leaf oil
Aromatherapy: Helps restore balance and clear negative influences (9:106).
Cautions: Oil or decoction of bark may cause convulsions and miscarriage. Avoid use during pregnancy or lactation (5-online).
Personal Experience:
Material Use: Incense
Part Used: Leaves
Medicine:
Part Used: New leaves
Body System Associations: Immune and respiratory systems
Harvest:
Site Location: near western edge of north acre 2536 Walnut Rd NW
Site Description: This two acre wooded and wetland property is owned by Man Le of Olympia and is rented by my housemates and I. The stand from which cedar boughs were gathered is located in the wooded, northern acre of property, where multiple stands of Redcedar live with Salal, Deer Fern, Douglas Fir and various species of fungi. The soil is alderwood gravelly sandy loam and there is adequate light for cedars to grow nearly 75 ft tall. The topography is 3-15% slope, with a few slight dips in the forest floor, and it is accessible by dog, chickens and humans who visit this setting regularly, with light steps. The understory of the woods shows evidence of human interaction, as paths meander through the needle-strewn padding, yet human activity here is low-impact. This site was selected as I desired to make medicine from the trees with which I live and visit regularly.
Technique: Leaves carefully and selectively cut from various branches from several trees
Processing: New leaves used fresh
Storage: Leaves also gathered and dried for later use as incense
Experience: I walked around the woods looking with intention at the tree friends I see everyday. I noted the trees that seemed particularly vibrant and decided that I would harvest from those that wanted to share their energy. I used a knife to cut off just the new growth, leaves and portion of green stem, and was surprised how much growth one organism experiences during the course of a season. I avoided any leaves that were brown or dry, and moved between three trees and their branches for my cuttings. I later visited the trees during the nighttime, and under a moon almost full and half hidden by a thick fog, I beat the drum in gratitude, returning energy at the roots of these mighty trees.
Application/Preparation/Pharmacy:
Applications: Glycerin tincture
Preparation: After gathering the cuttings, I sorted through the small branches of cedar and separated needles from stem, discarding the latter. I filled a glass beaker with 8oz of cedar and placed it in a mason jar. Next I measured 250mL of glycerin and added it to the plant matter. I measured 200mL of well water from a clear glass jar that sits on a window ledge capturing the sun’s energy. Lastly, I added 50mL of Everclear grain alcohol to the mixture. I lidded and labeled the medicine and after gently agitating the mixture, I put it in a cool dark room in the house, and will continue to agitate the medicine daily.
The remaining needles were laid flat on a cloth to dry, for later use as incense.
With the amount of leaves left over, I of course considered dyeing with this plant but decided to focus on its medicinal and spiritual properties before getting to know its more human use attributes.
Fresh herb tincture
Fresh herb 1:2, menstrum, 50% vegetable glycerin, 40% everclear grain alcohol, 10% well-water infused with sunlight
Pharmacy: Use directly or diluted topically. Internal use as a cold infusion or small amounts of of tincture, 5-10 drops 3 times a day (10).
Reason/Purpose: I made this medicine to aid my housemate alex and I in overcoming our lingering mucus-heavy coughs, that have resounded within walnut house for several weeks like a tragic, never-ending chorus.
Experience: Making medicine is easy and fun! Even though I had harvested just the leaves of cedar, I still took considerable time in sorting through the leaves and separating needles from stem. It was a meditative process, and I quickly became immersed in the texture and smell of the fragrant needles against and in my palm. After I filled a bowl with cedar tips, I plunged my face into the needles, flooding my olfactory with life. I feel truly empowered to connect with plant people and understand them through their medicine. They have gifts and wisdom to offer, much like we can offer thanks and love to them as we share this knowledge with others.
Cautions: Avoid consumption during pregnancy or with kidney problems (10).
References Cited
1. Mackinnon, Andy, and Jim Pojar. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Vancouver, British Columbia: Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.
2. Moore, Michael. Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Red Crane Books Incorporated, 1993.
3. Gunther, Erna. Ethnobotany of Western Washington. Seattle, WA USA, London, England: University of Washington Press 1945
4.Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2002.
5.Author Unknown. Plants For A Future. Species Database. Online at http://www.ibiblio/org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Thuja+plicata. Visited 10-31-05.
6.USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. National Plant Data Center Plant Guide. Online at http://www.plants.usda.gov. Edited 6-4-03.
7.Foster, Steven and Christopher Hobbs. Peterson Field Guides Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
8. Lombardi, Angel. Respecting the Knowledge: Ethnobotany of Western Washington
Olympia, WA: Washington State Historical Society, 1996.
9. Buhner, Stephen Harrod. Sacred Plant Medicine. Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho: Raven Press, 1996.
10. Krohn, Elise. From Earth to Apothecary Solvency and Dosage Chart. 2004.
Robin Smalley ~Arts, Environment, and the Child~Fall 2005
Illustration:
Thuja Plicata
Actual Size
Gathered at 2536 Walnut Rd NW
Robin Smalley
26 Nov 05
Child Friendly Narrative
Western Red Cedar
Thu-ja
Pli-ca-ta
Is a tree
Bark of red
And
Bough of green
Tree of life
Along the Northwest coast
Give thanks
O cedar
Sacred host
We ask of you
And give thanks
To borrow
living bark
And branches
Strength and spirit
We sing to you
For home and totem
And canoe
With rains you live
And grow so tall
You shelter salmon, human
all
You are medicine
For sick and weak
Your buds we chew
For ache of tooth
And buds we boil
as gargle
For throats
So sore
Your scented leaves
Smell the air
Of sacred smoke
You calm and care
Thank you red cedar
For the gift of life
May we tend to you
as you nurture us.
Robin Smalley
Arts, Environment, and the Child: Walking the Wheel of the Seasons
Fall 2005
