The name cedar is used for several evergreen trees with aromatic wood or foliage, even though they do not all belong to the same botanical family. Many of the cedars familiar in the Pacific Northwest are members of the cypress family (Cupressaceae). The true cedars belong to the genus Cedrus in the pine family (Pinaceae) and occur naturally from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean to the Himalayas. Their needles and cones look quite different from the flattened, scale-like foliage of western red cedar.[1]
Three cedars with different origins
Western red cedar — Thuja plicata. A large forest tree of western North America with drooping sprays of scale-like foliage and fibrous bark. Its cultural and practical importance to Northwest Coast peoples, regional ecology, traditional hair care and Deschampsia's use of its leaves are covered in the separate Western Red Cedar entry.
Port Orford cedar — Chamaecyparis lawsoniana. Also called Lawson cypress, this tree is native to a comparatively small area of southwestern Oregon and northwestern California. Its fine-textured, aromatic wood has a characteristic spicy, sometimes ginger-like scent. The species is botanically closer to western red cedar than to Atlas cedar, but it has its own identity and aromatic materials.[2]
Atlas cedar — Cedrus atlantica. A true cedar native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria. It bears needles in clusters on short shoots and develops large, upright cones, unlike the smaller cones and scale-like foliage of the Pacific Northwest's so-called cedars. Its wood is also an important source of cedarwood aromatic materials.[3]
Other trees sold under cedar names include eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), which is actually a juniper. This is one reason the common name alone cannot identify an essential oil or tell us what it will smell like.[1,4]
Why cedarwood oils smell different
Commercial cedarwood essential oils are distilled from the wood of several different trees, including species of Cedrus and Juniperus. Their chemistry varies. Atlas cedarwood oil is especially associated with himachalenes, a group of woody-smelling sesquiterpenes; some juniper-derived cedarwood oils contain abundant cedrol and cedrenes. These are different aromatic profiles, not grades of the same ingredient.[4]
The part of the tree also matters. A wood-derived cedarwood oil is different from an aromatic water distilled from fresh western red cedar foliage, or from cedar leaves infused into a carrier oil. The common name connects the plants in conversation; the species and preparation identify the material in a formula.
At Deschampsia
We work with several of these distinct cedar materials. Our Western Red Cedar Hydrosol comes from Washington-gathered Thuja plicata foliage distilled in our copper alembic. Western red cedar leaves also appear in the botanical infusion for Hair & Scalp Elixir.
For a different aromatic character, Cedar + Smoke Soap uses Oregon-distilled Port Orford cedar essential oil alongside smoky cade. Hidden Forest Soap combines wildcrafted western red cedar leaves with Atlas cedar essential oil and other conifer materials. The two soaps illustrate how different cedar species can contribute different qualities to an evergreen scent.
Related Library entries: Western Red Cedar, Essential Oils, Hydrosols, and Distillation.
