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Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia, Working Draft of 1 January 1997 -- Gymnosperms Alan S. Weakley.
Copyright - Alan S. Weakley, 1998, 1999. All Rights Reserved.


Thuja Linnaeus (Arborvitae)
References: Chambers in FNA (1993).

1. Thuja occidentalis Linnaeus, American Arborvitae, Flat Cedar, Northern White Cedar. Mt, Pd (NC, VA): dry limestone, dolostone, and calcareous sandstone cliffs, talus, and bouldefields, rarely in our area in calcareous swamps, also planted and persisting around old homesites and cemeteries (mainly in the Mountains); uncommon (rare in VA Piedmont, rare in NC, where perhaps only introduced). March-April. The species ranges from Nova Scotia, Hudson Bay, and Manitoba south to PA, OH, n. IN, n. IL, and in the mountains to WV, w. VA, and e. TN. This species is alleged by various authors to have occurred as a native species in nw. NC on limestone bluffs in Alleghany, Ashe, and/or Burke counties, but it has not been relocated in this century, and little apparently suitable habitat occurs in NC. [= RAB, C, F, FNA, G, K, S, W]
[ Specimen Image ]
Platycladus orientalis (Linnaeus) Franco [= Thuja orientalis Linnaeus], Oriental Arborvitae or Tree-of-life, is planted, especially in graveyards. It differs from Thuja occidentalis in having the branchlets flattened in vertical planes (vs. horizontal planes), the seeds wingless (vs. winged). Platycladus is distinct from Thuja.
[ Specimen Image ]