WHITE CEDAR: ARBORVIT^E: Thuya occi- 

 dentalis 



THERE are two species of ArborvitaB in the United States. 

 One is in the East and is commonly called White Cedar 

 ( Thuya occidentalis}, and the other belongs to the Pacific 

 Slope and is generally known as " Cedar," but is sometimes 

 called Red Cedar. Its botanical appellation is Thuya pli- 

 cata. Both species are resinous, aromatic, coniferous ever- 

 greens, the Eastern one of moderate dimensions and the 

 Western one of gigantic proportions. Neither is a true Cedar, 

 but both are classed as such by the lumber trade. 



The Eastern tree is almost universally called White 

 Cedar. It is not loaded down with many names. The In- 

 dians called it " Oo-soo-ha-tah," Feather Leaf, which 

 really sounds as well, or better, than "Thuya," a name 

 which can be applied to other coniferous trees. It is found 

 in dense stands on swampy ground bordering the banks 

 of streams and shores of lakes occasionally climbing to 

 drier ground along the northern boundary of the United 

 States from Maine to the Red River of the North, and 

 south to central Minnesota and Michigan, northern Illinois, 

 and in the Atlantic region along the mountains to North 

 Carolina and also reaching eastern Tennessee. In its north- 

 ern range trees fifty to eighty feet high, and with a but- 

 tressed base of four feet, were frequently found. But few 

 such trees are left, yet white cedar telegraph and tele- 

 phone poles may still be seen quite two feet in diameter 

 and forty or fifty feet in height cut from the forests of 

 northern United States or Canada. 



Its tendency is to grow tall whether in the open or in a 

 dense stand. If crowded, that tendency is intensified and 

 the lower limbs die and drop off, leaving a comparatively 

 clean stem for a considerable height, with only small 



