36 



Common Trees 



ARBOR VITAE 



Thuja occidentalis, Linnaeus 



THE Arbor Vitae, also called White Cedar and Cedar, is 

 one of the most widely planted evergreen trees in North 

 America. It develops a conical, symmetrical crown and 

 usually reaches a height of 25 to 50 feet. 



The leaves are scale-like, }^ of an inch long, closely overlap 



ARBOR VITAE 

 One-half natural size. 



one another, aromatic when crushed, marked with glandular 

 dots. They are arranged in pairs. Each succeeding pair 

 alternates with the next pair. 



The cones are oblong, J^ of an inch long, with 6 to 12 

 blunt-pointed, reddish-brown scales. 



The trunk usually divides near base. The bark is grayish 

 to reddish-brown, usually furrowed, and peels oflf into thin 

 shred-like strips. 



The Arbor Vitae is found from Southern Labrador west 

 to Manitoba and Minnesota and south to North Carolina. In 

 Ohio this tree occurs locally in Adams, Green and Champaign 

 counties. It has been planted extensively for ornamental and 

 windbreak purposes, particularly on lawns and in cemeteries. 

 More than 50 garden varieties of Arbor Vitae are known. 

 Some of them, such as White Arbor Vitae and the Golden 

 Arbor Vitae, arc distinguished by their color. Among the 

 commonest forms are the pyramidal, the globose, the juvenile 

 and the pendulous form. Closely related to the American 

 Arbor Vitae is the Oriental Arbor Vitae, also planted exten- 

 sively throughout eastern North America. 



