Cedar of Lebanon: leafLouis Aureglia, CC BY 4.0
Cedar of Lebanon
Western red cedar: leaf
Western red cedar
Lookalikes

Cedar of Lebanon or western red cedar?

The name puts the two together, and both are large dark evergreens of parks and big gardens.

The quickest check

The quickest check is the leaves on a shoot. Cedar of Lebanon: stiff needles in tufts on short shoots. Western red cedar: tiny scales pressed in flat sprays. No leaves on the tree? Check the top of the tree.

At a glance

Look atCedar of LebanonWestern red cedar
Leaves on a shootStiff needles in tufts on short shootsTiny scales pressed in flat sprays
Top of the treeA flat top over level plates of foliageA tall spire, the top shoot upright
Size of a coneSolid and egg-shaped, up to 12 cm longSmall, up to 12 mm long

Three ways to tell them apart

Leaves on a shootLeaves
Cedar of Lebanon: leaves on a shootLouis Aureglia, CC BY 4.0
Cedar of LebanonStiff needles in tufts on short shoots
Western red cedar: leaves on a shoot
Western red cedarTiny scales pressed in flat sprays
Top of the treeShape
Cedar of LebanonA flat top over level plates of foliage
Western red cedarA tall spire, the top shoot upright
Size of a coneCones
Cedar of Lebanon: size of a coneШальнов Кирилл, CC BY 4.0
Cedar of LebanonSolid and egg-shaped, up to 12 cm long
Western red cedar: size of a coneChris Fluit, CC BY 4.0
Western red cedarSmall, up to 12 mm long
Think you can tell them apart now? Try the tree quiz: real photographs, and what gives each tree away.Take the quiz

The two trees

Cedar of Lebanon

Cedrus libani

Cedar of Lebanon is a massive evergreen, and an old one is flat-topped and usually wider than it is tall. Its foliage spreads out in great level tiers.

How to identify cedar of Lebanon →

Western red cedar

Thuja plicata

Western red cedar is a tall conifer shaped like a spire, with its top shoot standing upright. Its flat, glossy sprays of tiny scales smell sweet, like pineapple, when crushed.

How to identify western red cedar →

Their other lookalikes

Cedar of LebanonAtlas cedarCedar of Lebanon or Atlas cedar?Quickest check: the length of a needleWestern red cedarYewWestern red cedar or yew?Quickest check: the leaves on a shoot
In the app

See them side by side in Treely

  • Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
  • Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
  • A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
  • The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them
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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: Louis Aureglia (CC BY 4.0), quillipede (CC0), Шальнов Кирилл (CC BY 4.0), Chris Fluit (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.