Incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens)

I captured this beautiful specimen of an Incense Cedar on 05/06/2011 while riding with my brother as we were driving along the road that leads to Fallen Leaf Falls on the south-western edge of South Lake Tahoe. Judging from its size, one can gather that it has lived a long life and is quite old.

Description: The Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) is part of the Cypress family (Cupressaceae). A medium sized tree, it can range from 80 to 150 feet in height. It generally lives in altitudes of 1,000 to 9,200 feet. The base of its trunk can be up to 18 feet in diameter. It is long-lived and grows slowly. It is noted, and named, for the odor its leaves emit when bruised. The tree has a straight trunk, with reddish, furrowed bark, and spreading branches that end in sprays of branchlets, covered with dark green leaves. The flowers are monecious, appearing in January on the ends of short lateral branchlets of the previous year. I believe that two of the trees in the picture on the right, taken at Eagle Falls, located above Emerald Bay, are also  Incense Cedars. The fruit is reddish-brown or yellowish-brown that ripens in the early autumn and remains on the tree until spring.  The bark is bright cinnamon-red, broken into irregular ridges, and covered with closely appressed plate-like scales. It can be found in the mountains from western Oregon in higher Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada to southern California and western Nevada. An important timber species, Incense Cedar is also the leading wood for the manufacture of pencils, because it is soft but not splintery.