376 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



ARBOR VITAE 



White Cedar, Cedar. 



Thuja occidentalis L. 



HABIT Commonly 25-50 ft. in height with trunk diameter of 1-2 

 ft., in northern Maine occasionally reaching a height of 70 ft. and' 

 a trunk diameter of 3-5 ft.; trunk more or less lobed and buttressed 

 at base, often inclined and twisted, frequently dividing into two 01*3 

 more stout erect stems; branches short, horizontal, lower branches often 

 strongly declined, branchlets numerous, forming a dense, conical head? 

 clothed with foliage to near the base. 



BARK Ashy-gray to light reddish-brown, separating off in long, 

 narrow, flat, shreddy strips, often more or less spirally twisted. 



TWIGS Generally more than 2 mm. wide, decidedly flattened, 

 arranged in fan-shaped clusters, placed vertically or in planes ati 

 various angles, often mistaken for the true leaves which are minute 

 and completely cover the last season's growth, dark yellowish-green,; 

 paler on the underside, with the death of the leaves in the second season : 

 becoming pale cinnamon brown and later shining reddish-brown, round! 

 in section, swollen at place of attachment to main branch, and marked 

 by scars of deciduous branchlets. Photograph of twig is about % nat- 

 ural size. 



LEAVES Minute, 3-6 mm. long, scale-like, appressed and closely 

 overlapping, opposite in 4 ranks; on the flattened spray those in the! 

 side pairs keeled, those in the other pair flat, ovate, each with a single { 

 raised glandular spot especially conspicuous on leaves of leading 

 shoots; with a characteristic camphor-like aromatic odor when crushed, j 



FRUIT Small, oblong cones, about % inch long, pale reddish-brown, 

 opening to the base when mature, maturing the first season and persis-j 

 tent through the winter. SCALES 6-12, thin, oblong, dry with margins] 

 mostly entire. 



COMPARISONS The Arbor Vitae is often called White Cedar and i 

 resembles the Coast White Cedar, which likewise is often known asj 

 White Cedar, in its bark, its habit of growth and its flattened f an- j 

 shaped spray. The twigs of the Arbor Vitae are much more flattened! 

 and larger and the clusters of twigs more decidedly fan-shaped; the] 

 leaves are also larger and of a yellowish-green color. The cones of! 

 the two species are decidedly different, those of the Arbor Vitae being] 

 oblong with thin scales opening to the base of the cone, those of the] 

 Coast White Cedar being spherical with thickened shield-shaped scales,] 

 perched on stalks attached to the center of the cone. 



DISTRIBUTION Low, swampy lands, rocky borders of rivers and ' 

 ponds. Often cultivated as single ornamental trees and in hedges. ] 

 Southern Labrador to Nova Scotia; west to Manitoba; south along the j 

 mountains to North Carolina and East Tennessee; west to Minnesota. j 



IN NEW ENGLAND Maine throughout the state; most abundant 

 In the central and northern portions, forming extensive areas known ! 

 as "Cedar Swamps"; sometimes bordering a growth of Black Spruce 4 

 at a lower level; New Hampshire mostly confined to the upper part j 

 of Coos county, disappearing at the White river narrows near Han- j 

 over; seen only in isolated localities south of the White Mountains; < 

 Vermont common in swamps at levels below 1,000 ft.; Massachusetts 

 Berkshire county; occasional in the northern sections of the Connecti- j 

 cut river valley; Rhode Island not reported. 



IN CONNECTICUT Rare; Canaan, on a limestone ridge and in a 

 nearby swamp, Salisbury, rocky hillsides and at another locality in a ! 

 deep swamp; apparently native at these three localities. Escaped from 

 cultivation to fields and roadsides at Norwich, East Hartford, Killingly 

 and Windsor. 



"WOOD Light, soft, brittle, very coarse-grained, durable, fragrant, j 

 pale yellowish-brown, largely used in Canada and the northern states < 

 for fence posts, rails, railroad ties, spools and shingles. 





