incense cedar

[in-sens see-der]

noun

1. a tree of the cypress family’s genus Calocedrus, especially C. decurrens California incense cedar of western North America, which may grow to more than 190 feet (58 meters) in height.

2. the aromatic, close-grained wood of this tree, used to make pencils, chests, closet linings, etc.

3. Chilean cedar.

Word History and Origins

Origin of incense cedar¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

The remainder were sugar pine, noble fir, red fir, incense cedar, western red cedar, mountain hemlock and western hemlock.

From Science Daily

Conditions favored shade-tolerant trees — white fir, red fir and incense cedar — that prefer dense, closed canopies.

From Los Angeles Times

I had to content myself with watching a YouTube video featuring another of Stenmo’s favorite trees, an incense cedar that he loves to eat lunch with his back against as he listens to woodpeckers.

From Los Angeles Times

Several teams recently converged at Blodgett Forest Research Station northeast of Sacramento, an area thick with towering Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and incense cedar.

From New York Times

As she trudged past the remnant of a felled incense cedar, Cicely Muldoon, the superintendent of the park, acknowledged that the notion of cutting trees in Yosemite could be hard to explain to the public.

From New York Times