Index / Search / Thuja occidentalis

§1 Plant

Thuja occidentalis L.

vernacular arborvitae — species · Cupressaceae


USDA
THOC2
GBIF
2684178
Rank
species
arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)
Platephotograph · Donna PomeroyCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Gymnosperm
Family
Cupressaceae Gray
Genus
Thuja
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1 county across 1 state
Legend Native · 1 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
High
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-33 °F minimum
Frost-free days
100 min.
Precipitation
35–55 in/yr
pH range
5.2–7
Root depth
30 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
50 ft
Height @ 20 y
25 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Dense
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
345,600
Propagation
seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
Yes
Fuelwood
Medium
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1 county across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/THOC2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/2684178 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

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