Tree Identification
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Thuja occidentalis - Northern white cedar
Fan-like sprays of northern white cedar foliage.
The rather small 1/3 to 1/2 inch long woody, brown cones.
The yellowish-green immature cones.
Arborvitae foliage on a frosty February morning.
The upright narrowly pyramidal form of arborvitae.
Bark on a very mature northern white cedar.
Frost on foliage and cones.
Foliage displaying symptoms of drought induced by transplant shock
All Images By: Dave Hanson
  • Characteristics
Northern white cedar or arborvitae is a long-lived, highly sought after Minnesota native. This tree is so popular in landscaping that some consider it to be over-used.

Small to medium tree height: 10-50'
Canopy spreads: 10-15', Pyramidal crown
Drought Tolerance: Intermediate
Shade Tolerance: Tolerant
Soil pH Tolerance: Intermediate in tolerance to high pH
Poor Soil Drainage: Tolerant to flooding
Salt Tolerance:

 Sensitive in tolerance to salt spray and Intermediate tolerance to soil salts.
Northern white cedar has flattened scale-like needles that are typically dark, glossy green to yellow-green all year. The flattened needles are on branchlets that fan out forming a spray. The cones are rather small and are bright green when immature and a mature to a brown slightly opened structure. Photos on the left side of this page show the different stages of the cones from the immature green cone to the mature brown. The bark on the main trunk is gray in color, very fibrous and it comes off the tree in long narrow strips. The bark is very similar in appearance to that of northern redcedar.

There are many arborvitae cultivars available in the nurseries and the traits have been selected to fit almost any form in the landscape.

Did you know
In the book Minnesota Trees, author David Rathke attributes the name "arborvitae", meaning tree-of-life, to the early French explorer Jacques Cartier. Apparently, these early explorers relied on vitamin C from the tree's foliage to keep scurvy at bay. Donald Peattie recounts this story also, but attributes the trees "Arbor-Vitae" name to the fact that Northern white cedar is an extremely long-lived tree.