Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) Britton, Sterns & Poggenb.

vernacular Atlantic white cedar — species · Cupressaceae

USDA: CHTH2
GBIF: 2683871
Rank: species

Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) — Platephotograph · Milo Pyne source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Gymnosperm
Family: Cupressaceae Gray
Genus: Chamaecyparis

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 3 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: None
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Low
Fire: Medium
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: High
CaCO₃: None
Hedging: Medium

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -36 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 140 min.
Precipitation: 40–70 in/yr
pH range: 3.5–6.3
Root depth: 16 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 50 ft
Height @ 20 y: 20 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Dense
Flower colour: Green
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Spring
Seed begins: Fall
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 460,000
Propagation: seed, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: High
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: Yes
Fuelwood: Low
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CHTH2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2683871 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z