A cedar in name only.

American Forests: To call the Lawson Cypress a "Port Orford Cedar" is both obnoxious and disturbing, especially coming from a magazine dedicated to American forests. The name "Port Orford Cedar" came from logging companies, whose only interest in that name was using it to sell lumber. The tree is not a cedar.

Howard R. Cooley, Via email

Mr. Cooley: Yes, the Port Orford Cedar, or Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana, is not a true cedar, but is in fact a cypress. Or, more properly, a false cypress. The term cedar is a common general term for all soft aromatic wood, and many trees that we call cedar aren't actually cedars at all. The term Port Orford Cedar comes from the limited area that is the native range of this species, which was extensively timbered and subjected to catastrophic wildfires for much of its history. Ornamental horticulturists prefer to call this tree a Lawson Cypress, so named by Scottish taxonomist Andrew Murray after Lawson and Sons Nursery of Edinburgh, which first propagated the tree. American Forests will continue to refer to this species as the Port Orford Cedar, its established name, as do most of America's wild plant experts, including Dr. Alan Whittemore, research scientist and plant taxonomist at the US National Arboretum.

Deborah Gangloff, PhD.

Executive Director