Released 2011-10-30

Northern White Cedars, Thuja occidentalis

Known by the Ojibwe as the Nookomis Giizhik, or Grandmother Cedar, the northern white cedar is considered a gift to humanity by the Ojibwe. It is one of four plants on the Ojibwe medicine wheel, and its vitamin C-rich leaves are thought to have cured scurvy among certain 16th century explorers. Prolonged internal use is not wise, however, as the tree also contains the neurotoxin thujone, which in high doses can cause anxiety, sleeplessness, muscle spasms, and convulsions.

Northern white cedar is also commonly used as lumber, often forming the ribs, planking, and other structural parts of birchbark canoes; in log cabins; and for fencing. They are also quite tasty to deer, and stands have been decimated by large deer herds.

In regions where they are inaccessible to loggers, deer, and wildfire, such as on cliff faces, northern white cedars can be quite long-lived. The oldest known living specimen is over 1,100 years old, but a 1,653 year old specimen was found dead. Not quite the 4,842 years of Methuselah, a Great Basin bristlecone pine in California and the oldest currently living (non-clonal) tree, but still not too shabby.

This is a limited edition photograph with a total of 500 photos printed across all sizes, as noted

"Nature is art brought to life: often beautiful and inspiring, always fragile and in need of loving care" -- Jodi Gaylord

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