- Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don (plants.sc.egov.usda.gov)
Cypress family (Cupressaceae). Native trees growing to 50 (-75) meters tall, often buttressed at base, with a conical to irregular crown, old individuals frequently with many leaders and many dead spike tops; branches arching, branchlets pendent, flattened, in fan-shaped sprays; bark gray to reddish-brown, 10-25 mm thick, fibrous, separated into flat, connected ridges. Leaves are evergreen, scale-like and sharply pointed, (1-) 3-6 mm long, opposite in alternating pairs (in 4 rows), glossy green above, white-striped on the lower surface, with a spicy fragrance when crushed. Seed cones are ellipsoid, 10-14 mm long, brown; seeds 8-14 per cone, 4-7.5 mm long, with lateral wings about as wide as the body. The common name pertains to the western distribution and cedar-like appearance.
- Socrates (Wikipedia)
Socrates (/ˈsɒkrətiːz/; Greek: Σωκράτης; c. 470–399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape.
- Thuja plicata (Wikipedia)
Thuja plicata is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific red cedar, giant arborvitae, western arborvitae, just cedar, giant cedar, or shinglewood. It is not a true cedar of the genus Cedrus. T. plicata is the largest species in the genus Thuja, growing up to 70 metres (230 ft) tall and 7 metres (23 ft) in diameter. It mostly grows in areas that experience a mild climate with plentiful rainfall, although it is sometimes present in drier areas on sites where water is available year-round, such as wet valley bottoms and mountain streamsides. The species is shade-tolerant and able to establish in forest understories and is thus considered a climax species. It is a very long-lived tree, with some specimens reaching ages of well over 1,000 years.