Eastern Arborvitae, Thuja occidentalis, a species of thuja, is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the northeastern US and southeastern Canada, from central Saskatchewan east to New Brunswick, and south to eastern Tennessee in the Appalachian Mountains. South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan has an Eastern Arborvitae that is the largest and among the oldest in the world. It is also known as Northern Whitecedar, this sometimes split into three words as 'Northern White Cedar', though this causes confusion, as it is not a cedar.

Unlike the closely related Western Redcedar Thuja plicata, it is only a small tree, to 15-20 m tall and 0.4 m trunk diameter (exceptionally to 30 m tall and 1.6 m diameter). The foliage forms in flat sprays with scale-like leaves. The cones are slender, 10-15 mm long and 3-4 mm broad, with 6-8 overlapping scales.

Uses

It is very widely used as an ornamental tree, particularly for screens and hedges.

External link

Gymnosperm Database - Thuja occidentalis (http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/conifers/cu/th/occidentalis.htm)