American Arborvitae (Thuja Occidentalis ‘Little Gem’)

Features and Characteristics

Thuja occidentalis, commonly known as American arborvitae, Eastern arborvitae, Eastern white cedar or Northern white cedar, is a dense, conical to narrow-pyramidal (sometimes maturing to broad-pyramidal), often single-trunked, evergreen tree that is native to eastern and central Canada south to northern Illinois, Ohio and New York with scattered populations further south in the Appalachians to North Carolina. Mature trees may reach 40-60′ tall in the wild over time, but in cultivation typically grow much smaller to 20-30′ tall. Scale-like, aromatic, yellow-green to green foliage appears in flattened sprays. Red-brown bark will exfoliate on mature branches and trunks.

Genus name is the Greek name for a kind of juniper (Juniperus.)

Specific epithet means from the Western (Occidental) world.

The common name of arborvitae (tree of life) comes from early French settlers to North America who learned from Native Americans that the tree’s foliage could be used to treat scurvy.

‘Little Gem’ is a dwarf, dense, flattened, broad-globular cultivar that typically matures to only 3’ tall and as much as 6’ wide over the first 10 years. It is very slow-growing. Dark green scale-like leaves in flat sprays may bronze in winter.