Western Red Cedar

Western red cedars can photosynthesize at 2-5% full sunlight - a tolerance that would kill most trees. They compensate with efficient photosynthesis, slow growth, and patience. A cedar seedling can establish under dense canopy and wait 50-100 years for a light gap, surviving on scraps of light that filter through when the wind moves leaves. Dense wood, slow metabolism, extreme shade tolerance: this is the late-successional strategy perfected.

As climax species, western red cedars dominate Pacific Northwest old-growth forests alongside western hemlock. They don't arrive first - they can't compete with fast-growing pioneers in open conditions. But once the forest canopy closes and shade deepens, pioneers die and cedars thrive. Their strategy is temporal: lose early, win late. The ability to wait decades for conditions to shift is itself a competitive advantage when you're built to outlive your competitors.

The strategic insight inverts common wisdom: Sometimes the winning move is optimizing for the late game, even if it means guaranteed losses early. Western red cedars teach that sustainable dominance comes from being adapted to stable end-states, not transient early conditions. Most startups optimize for growth; cedar strategy is optimizing for endurance. You don't need to win every quarter if you're built to win the century.