These columnar incense cedars stand sentinel beside the Fountain.
The genus Calocedrus was known as Libocedrus until 1993 when it was re-assigned to its own genus of three species, but when first introduced into cultivation in the 1850’s it was referred to as Thuja gigantea. Calocedrus decurrens is a coniferous tree belonging to the cypress family (Cupressaceae). It takes its common name incense cedar from the aroma omitted when the leaf scales and twigs are crushed. A columnar tree exceeding 40m in height, C. decurrens is a native of the western United States where it can grow at altitudes in excess of 2,000m above sea level. During autumn it produces small male strobili (pollen producing cones) at the tips of the flat sprays of foliage. These are followed by long, female seed cones which are a pale green when immature, and which ripen to a rich brown, and open to reflex their scales. C. decurrens was once widely grown for its timber, which was used in the production of pencils, though due to the depletion of mature stands of this tree, its use is now limited to the production of chests.