Thuja occidentalis var. Smaragd (Emerald Green Arborvitae)

Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Arborvitae, Eastern Arborvitae, Emerald Green Arborvitae, Northern White-Cedar, Swamp-Cedar, White-Cedar

Common Names in French:

Cèdre Blanc, Thuier Cèdre, Thuya Du Canada

Common Names in German:

Lebensbaum

Common Names in Italian:

Thuja

Description

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Family Cupressaceae

Trees or shrubs evergreen , monoecious or dioecious. Leaves decussate or in whorls of 3, scalelike and then often dimorphic with flattened facial leaves and keeled lateral leaves, or needlelike particularly in juvenile plants , often with an abaxial resin gland . Pollen cones terminal or axillary , solitary, maturing and shed annually; microsporophylls 6-16, decussate or whorled , each bearing (2 or) 3-6(-9) pollen sacs ; pollen wingless. Seed cones usually terminal, solitary, globose , ovoid , or oblong , dehiscent or indehiscent when mature in 1st or 2nd(or 3rd) year; cone scales developing after ovules originate in bract axils; bracts almost completely enveloped by cone scales, free only at apex; ovules 1-numerous per bract axil, erect ; cone scales of mature cones 3-16, flat or peltate, woody, leathery, or succulent, 1-20-seeded. Seeds winged or not; wings derived from seed coat . Cotyledons usually 2, rarely 3-6. Germination epigeal.

Nineteen genera and ca. 125 species: worldwide; eight genera (one introduced ) and 46 species (16 endemic, 13 introduced) in China.[1]

Genus Thuja

Trees evergreen , small to large. Branchlets flattened, in fan-shaped, flattened, frondlike sprays . Leaves opposite in 4 ranks . Adult leaves heteromorphic; those on larger branchlets with sharp, erect , free apices to ca. 2 mm; those on flattened lateral branchlets crowded, appressed , scalelike, lateral pairs keeled , facial pairs flat; abaxial glands present or absent. Pollen cones with 2--6 pairs of sporophylls, each sporophyll with 2--4 pollen sacs . Seed cones maturing and opening first year, ellipsoid , (6--) 9--14(--18) mm; scales persistent , 4--6 pairs, overlapping, oblong and basifixed , thin and woody, 2--3 central pairs fertile , uniformly thin or with slightly enlarged apex, remaining scales sterile. Seeds 1--3 per scale, lenticular , equally 2-winged; cotyledons 2. x = 11.

Species 5: North America, e Asia.[2]

Physical Description

Habit: Dense pyramidal to columnar growth habit. Evergreen .

Foliage: Flat sprays of soft bright green foliage .

Size/Age/Growth

Growth Rate: Moderate: up to 1' per year. • Size: 10-15' tall, 6' wide.

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Accent. Screen .

Biology

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Growth

Culture: Space 4-6' apart.

Soil: Prefers organic , moist, well-drained soil.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun.

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Plantae () - Haeckel, 1866 - Plants
  - Subkingdom: Viridaeplantae () - Cavalier-Smith, 1981
    - Phylum: Tracheophyta () - Sinnott, 1935 Ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - Vascular Plants
      - Subphylum: Euphyllophytina ()
        Infraphylum: Radiatopses () - Kenrick & Crane, 1997
        Class: Pinopsida ()
        Order: Pinales ()
        Family: Cupressaceae () - Richard Ex Bartling, 1830, Nom. Cons. - Cypress Family
        Genus: Thuja () - C. Linnaeus, 1753 - Arborvitae [Greek name for some evergreen, resinous trees]
        Specific epithet: occidentalis - Linnaeus
        Variety: Smaragd
        Botanical name: - Thuja occidentalis L.

Notes

Cultivar of Eastern White Cedar.

An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Place of publication : Sp. pl. 2:1002. 1753

Name verified on 09-Jul-2007 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 11-Jul-2007

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Thuja

There are approximately 314 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors

Behnke Nurseries, Beltsville, MD USA
Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 4, 2006.
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. URL (May 05, 2008)

Identifiers

GRIN Nomen Number: 36584

Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 405211

Footnotes

Liguo Fu, Yong-fu Yu, Robert P. Adams & Aljos Farjon "Cupressaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 62. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Kenton L. Chambers "Thuja". in Flora of North America Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

Thuja occidentalis var. Smaragd

Common Names

Description

Family Cupressaceae

Genus Thuja

Physical Description

Size/Age/Growth

Landscaping

Biology

Growth

Taxonomy

Notes

Similar Species

Members of the genus Thuja

More Info

Further Reading

Notes

Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes