Thuja occidentalis American arborvitae

Potted Emerald Green Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’), Palo Alto. Sairus Patel, 12 Oct 2023

From: Howard E. McMinn & Evelyn Maino, An Illustrated Manual of Pacific Coast Trees

The leaves, which have a pleasant scent when crushed, are in the form of small overlapping scales hugging branchlets arranged in flat sprays disposed more or less horizontally. Numerous horticultural varieties are available, including variegated, golden, and dwarf forms. The cones are about ½ inch long. The commercially important lumber is traded as northern white cedar. American arborvitae has been known as white cedar, a name that is also applied to incense cedar, Port Orford cedar, California juniper, and other trees.

No campus locations are known, though Albert Wilson gave several in the area in his 1938 book Distinctive Trees, Shrubs, and Vines in the Gardens of the San Francisco Peninsula.

Illustrations: cone comparisons of Thuja species.

Name derivation: Thuja – Greek name thuia for a type of juniper; occidentalis – western.