What type of tree is this?

Stinicker

I'm wondering if anyone here could help me out with this? There is a tree growing on our farm and I don't know what type of tree it is. Everyone in our family knows it as "the big palm tree" but palm tree is just a generic name that is applied to these type of evergreen trees.

There is a unique history to the tree and we think it has its origins on the West coast of North America, Three great grand uncles of mine had emigrated to San Francisco around the turn of the 20th Century, all three brothers surprisingly survived the great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 but had been injured and devastated. They then returned to Ireland bringing with them many items including this tree which they grew from a seed. The tree started life sometime between 1906-1907 and was already quite a tall tree when my own father was child almost 60 years ago.

The tree has some small cone like berries and last year during Storm Darwin in February a large piece of it was cracked off. We left the branch to dry out and last week we cut it up for firewood. It has quite an odorous smell also which I can't quite place, but its a pleasant smell. The wood doesn't seem to burn that well, it probably needs more seasoning.

I would like to properly identify what tree it really is, we have been considering cutting it down completely as it is quite close to the dwelling house and at around 109 years old it maybe already suffering from old age and at risk of getting knocked down especially if another storm darwin type event comes along.

Stinicker

Adding another picture

looksee

Its a pine - thuya - of some sort, can't tell you the variety tho.

mountainy man

Western red cedar. Thuja plicata.

fergus1001

It's a ceader tree if you grind up the leaf what smell do you get (either parsley or citrus)

Reindeer

Looks more like a Port Orford-Cedar - Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, a cypress. Are the bottoms of the stamen much lighter in color? Take a close photo of the top, and underside of the 'leaves'. And close ups of the mature and young cones, preferably in natural sun light(good luck). The wood color also appears to be port orford. Also take a close up of the bark. But it is difficult to tell from the images. Color is so dependant on various factors from your camera, your lighting, to my puter, monitor, etc etc. But the form stays the same. SO get some close ups.

greysides

Reindeer wrote: »

Looks more like a Port Orford-Cedar - Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, a cypress.

As an aside, POC wood is highly regarded for making wooden arrows.

Nekarsulm

The seed heads are not arranged in dense enough clusters to be Western Red Cedar, IMO. Also the branch formation and arrangement is different.

SILVAMAN

it's a Lawson cypress Chamaecyparis lawsoniana

TTTT

Off topic.

Is there a reason that Cypresses aren't grown in forestry in Ireland? It seems to be all Spruce, Fir and Larch around here. They seem to grow fast enough in farms gardens ect.

SILVAMAN

TTTT wrote: »

Off topic.

Is there a reason that Cypresses aren't grown in forestry in Ireland? It seems to be all Spruce, Fir and Larch around here. They seem to grow fast enough in farms gardens ect.

They are grown but are a minor species.
You have to get the correct seed source for straight single-stemmed trees, and the industry is used to Sitka, Larch, Norway and Douglas. If enough were grown, there would be a critical mass at a later stage for sustainable demand. Go to page 150 of the following COFORD publication.

http://www.coford.ie/media/coford/content/publications/projectreports/speciesmanual.pdf

greysides

Am I right in thinking that the evergreen 'cypress' species commonly seen used for shelter in old farms around Ireland is Lawson Cypress?

SILVAMAN

greysides wrote: »

Am I right in thinking that the evergreen 'cypress' species commonly seen used for shelter in old farms around Ireland is Lawson Cypress?

Probably, or it could be Monterey cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa, which interestingly is a protected species in California where it grows in two protected groves in Carmel and Pebble beach Ca.

Reindeer

SILVAMAN wrote: »

Probably, or it could be Monterey cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa, which interestingly is a protected species in California where it grows in two protected groves in Carmel and Pebble beach Ca.

I have a photo I took of the Lone Cypress when I was last in Monterey in the 90's.

California is a very dry place. Evergreens often are more spirited in Ireland than their natural habitat. Unfortunately, fast growth doesn't always mean quality growth.

The conifers you often see could be a huge range. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Douglas David Douglas brought back virtually every species of conifer extant with him when he returned from the Pacific Northwest back in 1827/26. So you will see a load of them, plus European natives, everywhere in the UK and Ireland.

On our estate in Waterford, we have 4 Giant Sequoias(Sequoiadendron giganteum -which are almost common in Ireland on estates and parks), and 2 coastal redwoods(Sequoia sempervirens). I took this photo last year: http://m3.i.pbase.com/g9/22/22/2/158471543.IvuL3sfM.jpg That is the 4th largest one because it is just the easiest to get a photo of the base.