Atlantic White Cedar Chamaecyparis thyoides (Linnaeus) Britton, Sterns, & PoggenburgS3 (Watch list)    Synonyms: Atlantic White-Cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides ver. henryae, Southern White Cedar.
Kingdom Plantae   >   Division Coniferophyta   >   Class Pinopsida   >   Order Pinales   >   Family Cupressaceae   >   Genus Chamaecyparis   

Status:

Atlantic White-Cedar is nowhere abundant, growing in a narrow coastal belt from southern Maine to northern Florida and west to southern Mississippi.

Description:

Bark is thin, and on old trunks shaggy gray or reddish and fibrous, divided into narrow, flat ridges that sometimes spiral around the stem. Leaves evergreen, scalelike and overlapping, and arranged in flat sprays, which distinguish it from Eastern Red Cedar, the only other evergreen conifer likely to be found near it. Female cones rounded, greenish at first, reddish-brown at maturity, and developing in one summer. Seeds winged, shed in early fall.

Where to find:

In Maryland, it is found in fresh water swamps and along streams, on the Coastal Plain (southern Eastern Shore). It is uncommon (Brown and Brown, 1972).

Relationships:

Host plant of Hessel's Hairstreak and Bald Cypress Sphinx Moth.

There are 87 records in the project database.

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Atlantic White Cedar, with mature female cones, in Worcester Co., Maryland (10/11/2019). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)

Atlantic White Cedar in Wicomico Co., Maryland (12/30/2012). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)

Atlantic White Cedar in Wicomico Co., Maryland (8/4/2018). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)

The trunks of two Atlantic White Cedars in Worcester Co., Maryland (2/23/2013). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)

Atlantic White Cedar in Dorchester Co., Maryland (1/1/2013). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

An Atlantic White Cedar in Worcester Co., Maryland (3/22/2014). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

An Atlantic White Cedar in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (2/5/2015). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Atlantic White Cedar in Wicomico Co., Maryland (6/16/2012). Photo by Wayne Longbottom. (MBP list)

An Atlantic White Cedar in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/13/2014). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Atlantic White Cedar in Wicomico Co., Maryland (1/1/2018). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)


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