White Cedar–thuja occidentalis

colour photo of White Cedar.

Eastern White Cedar is a common tree found throughout Ontario. It is a slow growing tree that prefers swampy areas, but can be found on rocky upland sites. Cedar is often planted as an ornamental tree for hedges. White-tailed deer eat the branches of cedar in the winter months.

Cedar wood is resistant to rot, and has many uses, including cedar shakes (shingles), fenceposts, lumber and boats. Cedar represents less than 0.1% of Ontario’s annual harvest, and is nearly 3% of its total growing stock volume.

Map of White Cedar relative occurrence

map of White Cedar distribution in Ontario indicating low (light brown), moderate and high (dark green-brown) levels of relative occurrence.

Enlarge map of White Cedar relative occurrence

Area and proportion of White Cedar in the AOU (area in hectares)

Statistic Crown Parks and protected areas Other Total
Total Area Containing White Cedar 2,752,101 294,177 787,939 3,834,217
1-25% of stand 2,047,160 223,678 509,687 2,780,526
26-50% of stand 462,588 45,542 171,563 679,693
51-75% of stand 156,697 15,991 57,069 229,757
76-100% of stand 85,655 8,966 49,620 144,241
Average Proportion in All Forest (%) 2.2 5.2 2.5 2.6
Area of White Cedar Working Group 481,470 48,951 235,075 765,495

Growing stock volume of White Cedar in the AOU (volume in thousands of cubic metres)

Statistic Crown Parks and protected areas Other Total
Gross Total Volume 88,980 10,352 37,429 136,761
Net Merchantable Volume 28,708 3,399 13,418 45,524
Current Annual Increment 566 62 285 913

White Cedar working group area by age class

vertical bar graph of White Cedar working group area by age class including brown for Crown, green for park and grey for other.