Western red cedar or Eastern white cedar: how to tell them apart?
Western red cedar and Eastern white cedar look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
Western red cedar
Thuja plicata
Eastern white cedar
Thuja occidentalis
Eastern white cedar has duller green foliage, without the white butterfly-shaped marks on the underside, and a smell closer to crushed apple, whereas Western red cedar has bright green foliage marked with white patterns beneath and a pineapple smell when crushed.
🍃 Leaves
Evergreen, flattened scales arranged in a fan, glossy dark green, giving off a pineapple smell when crushed
Evergreen, in flat scales, arranged in a fan on flattened twigs, bright to dark green
🌸 Flowers
Tiny male and female cones, with no ornamental interest
Tiny separate male and female cones on the same plant, barely visible
🍎 Fruits
Small brown ovoid cones about 1 cm long
Small ovate brown cone, with few scales
🪵 Bark
Reddish-brown, peeling in fibrous strips
Reddish-brown, fibrous, peeling in long strips
📏 Size
15 to 30 m as a free-standing tree (often clipped to 2-4 m as a hedge)
3 to 15 m tall depending on training (often clipped much lower as a hedge)
🗺️ Habitat
Tall, dense screening hedges, moist soil
Planted in hedges, as a specimen or as topiary in gardens
⚠️ Toxicity
Foliage slightly toxic if eaten in large amounts
Foliage toxic if eaten (contains thujone), to be kept out of reach of pets
🔎 And from the Eastern white cedar side
Western red cedar has glossy foliage, marked with white butterfly-shaped patterns on the underside, and a pineapple smell when crushed, whereas Eastern white cedar has duller foliage without these marks, and a smell closer to apple.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.