Deodar Cedar or Spruce/Pine?

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NaturesSkyline

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(I am in LA) My neighbor had this tree cut down in their backyard and are letting me mill it into slabs in exchange for 50% of the wood. They say its a 'cedar' but when I came to look at it it was all dead and there were no leaves/very few branches to ID it with. I asked what the leaves looked like and they said 'needles'... To my knowledge around here we have western red, Incense and deodar. Of the three, deodar is the only one with needles. smell of the trunk is cedar-like but my experience isn't developed enough to tell for sure. I went ahead and sealed the ends anyway, my mill is on the way (Granberg is backed up, taking 3 weeks to get here) so I wont be able to mill it until next week.

Because there were no leaves, the only pic I have is of the bark/upper trunk attached. There is a 10 foot section that is 100% clean on all sides.

1) Is this a cedar? Deodar? or another variant?
2) I know cedars are insect resistant, will it last a week in log form? I know if it were pine it would be all blue inside if I waited.

Thanks for the help!
 

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I was afraid of that. It has that Ponderosa-like bark. But the family said it was a cedar, and the tree company who cut it down said it was a cedar when I questioned it so that's why I was confused. It did not smell like the junipers I used to work with back in FL... Having sat for a week already, I'm dreading some blue stain now :oops:
 
First post. Since no one else has chimed in yet I'll give my thoughts. I'm no arborist, but it certainly looks like red pine to me based off the bark and the dead needles on the ground around it. That's my best guess.
After doing some research most likely ponderosa pine. Red pine are only around the northeast. Learned something new today.
 
It could be a true cedar, which do not have stringy bark. The true cedars, Cedrus spp have a plate type bark. The Thuja spp, Chaemacyparis spp forms of cedar have stringy bark.

I don't think it's Ponderosa pine, which tends to have bark reminiscent of a jigsaw puzzle.

The bark reminds me of Douglas fir, but isn't thick enough.

Although they're hard to see, I think there are pine needles on the ground and they look to be 2 needle pines. Assuming of course, they came from that tree.
 
yes exactly, ponderosas are also more warm in color - this is much more gray/blue. Before the tree team reassured me I thought maybe lodgepole pine, because I found this needle/cone cluster nearby... but they did have a yard full of pine trees so who knows where it came from:

Isn't Deodar a 'true' cedar? relative to the Lebanon?
 

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That is a needle and male cone cluster (pollen producer). They look like 2 needle pines with a twist in the needles. Could be a lodgepole pine, there are four variants, Pinus contorta latifolia (Northern Interior - boreal forests), Pinus contorta contorta (Shore pine - along the coast, Alaska to Northern California), Pinus contorta bolanderi (Bolanders beach pine - NW California coast), Pinus contorta murrayana (Tamarack pine - Cascades and Sierra Nevadas from Washington south to Mexico).

Deodora is a true cedar (Cedrus deodora) and related to the Cedar of Lebanon and the Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica).
 
I cut her open today - - not even a hint of stain or spalting after sitting for three weeks. And the smell... it's not pine, it's not fir. I'm fairly certain it is a cedar. No sap pockets inside, but my chain was fairly sticky. My best guess is cedar of lebanon. The wood is a beautiful orange hue. I cannot wait to work with this!
 

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