Western Redcedar Thuja plicata

Western redcedar is one of the most iconic trees of the Pacific Northwest — and despite the name, it is not a true cedar. It belongs to the genus Thuja, not Cedrus. You will recognize it by the fibrous, shredding bark and the flat, scale-like leaves that look nothing like the needles of fir or hemlock. Crush a spray of foliage and you get a sharp, aromatic scent.

Culturally, western redcedar is one of the most significant trees in the region. Coast Salish and other PNW tribes have used it for millennia — canoes, longhouses, baskets, clothing, medicine. The tree thrives in moist, low-elevation forests, often growing alongside western hemlock and Douglas fir.

For mushroom hunters, redcedar is one of the least productive trees in the forest. Unlike the conifers around it, redcedar forms no ectomycorrhizal partnerships, so it doesn’t support chanterelles, boletes, or the other prized edibles that grow with its neighbors. On top of that, its heartwood is loaded with natural fungicides (thujaplicins) that make it famously rot-resistant — the same property that makes cedar the wood of choice for shingles and posts also means even fallen cedar hosts few of the wood-decay fungi a forager would want.

The key foraging strategy with redcedar is to treat it as a habitat marker rather than a target. Where redcedar grows alongside hemlock and Douglas fir, you still find chanterelles and other mycorrhizal species — produced by those neighbors, not the cedar. Redcedar’s real contribution is moisture retention and structural diversity, signposting the cool, damp, low-elevation stands where the productive trees do their work.