Northern White Cedar

(Thuja occidentalis)

Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis)

Identifying Characters: Northern White Cedar is the only species of Thuja in the east and is readily identified by the flattened foliage and the typical female cones.

Similar Species: None within its range.

Measurements: Northern White Cedar is a tree with the base of the trunk sometimes expanded; crown compact and conical; height of mature individuals between 40 to 60 feet; diameter 2 to 3 feet at breast height.

Female Cones: Cones oblong, in clusters, and erect (pointing upward) on the branches; length about 0.3 to 0.5 inches, arising from a short curved stalk; immature cones yellow-green and aromatic; mature cones brown with 8 to 12 thin, sharp-pointed cone scales; 4 of the scales bearing 2 to 3 seeds.

Leaves: Leaves scale-like, arranged opposite in 4 rows; length 1/16 to 1/8 inches; scales on the side with a keel, flat pair without a glandular dot; color shiny dark green; scales near apex of branchlets nearly round.

Bark: Gray to red-brown, fibrous, shredding.

Native Range: The main range of Northern White Cedar extends through the southern part of the eastern half of Canada and the adjacent northern part of the United States. Specifically, it extends westward from Anticosti Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the southern part of James Bay and through central Ontario to southeastern Manitoba; then south through central Minnesota and Wisconsin to a narrow fringe around the southern tip of Lake Michigan; then east through southern Michigan, southern New York, central Vermont and New Hampshire, and Maine. The species also grows locally in northwestern Ontario, west-central Manitoba, southeastern Minnesota, southern Wisconsin, north-central Illinois, Ohio, southern New England, and in the Appalachian Mountains from western Pennsylvania south to western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. (Silvics of North America. 1990. Agriculture Handbook 654.)

Habitat: Northern White Cedar is most commonly found on swampy or boggy areas or the sides of streams, sometimes forming near impenetrable forests. The species, however, is also found on limestone soils, and southward can be found in the mountains.