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|genus=Thuja
|genus=Thuja
|common_name=Arborvitae, Red Cedar, White cedar
|common_name=Arborvitae, Red Cedar, White cedar
|name_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|lifespan=perennial
|Temp Metric=°F
|Temp Metric=°F
|usda_ref=Flora - A Gardener's Encyclopedia
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|jumpin=If this plant info box on watering; zones; height; etc. is mostly empty you can click on the edit tab and fill in the blanks!
|image=Upload.png
|image=Thuja occidentalis tree CB.JPG
|image_width=200
|image_caption=Thuja occidentalis
| image_width = 180px <!--- leave as 240px if horizontal orientation photo, or change to 180px if vertical -->
| image_caption = Thuja plicata
}}
}}
'''''Thuja''''' ({{pron-en|ˈθuːdʒə}} or {{IPA-en|ˈθjuːdʒə|}})<ref>''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607<br>{{OED|Thuja}}</ref> is a genus of [[conifer]]ous [[tree]]s in the [[Cupressaceae]] (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to [[North America]] and three native to eastern [[Asia]].<ref name=farjon>Farjon, A. (2005). ''Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 1-84246-068-4</ref><ref name=gd>Gymnosperm Database: [http://www.conifers.org/cu/th/index.htm ''Thuja'']</ref> The genus is [[Monophyly|monophyletic]] and sister to ''[[Thujopsis]]''.
They are commonly known as '''arborvitae''' (from [[Latin]] for ''tree of life'') or '''thujas'''; several species are widely known as ''cedar'' but because they are not true [[Cedrus|cedars]] (''Cedrus'') it has been recommended to call them redcedars or whitecedars.<ref name=kelsey>Kelsey, H. P., & Dayton, W. A. (1942). ''Standardized Plant Names'', second edition. American Joint Committee on Horticultural Nomenclature. Horace McFarland Company, Harrisburg, Pa.</ref>
They are [[evergreen]] [[tree]]s growing from {{convert|10|to|60|ft|m|abbr=none}} tall, with stringy-textured reddish-brown [[bark]]. The shoots are flat, with side shoots only in a single plane. The leaves are scale-like 1–10 mm long, except young seedlings in their first year, which have needle-like leaves. The scale leaves are arranged in alternating decussate pairs in four rows along the twigs. The male cones are small, inconspicuous, and are located at the tips of the twigs. The female [[conifer cone|cones]] start out similarly inconspicuous, but grow to about 1-2 cm long at maturity when 6–8 months old; they have 6-12 overlapping, thin, leathery scales, each scale bearing 1–2 small [[seed]]s with a pair of narrow lateral wings.<ref name=farjon/>
The five species in the genus ''Thuja'' are small to large evergreen trees with flattened branchlets. The leaves are arranged in flattened fan shaped groupings with resin-glands, and oppositely grouped in 4 ranks. The mature leaves are different from younger leaves, with those on larger branchlets having sharp, erect, free apices. The leaves on flattened lateral branchlets are crowded into appressed groups and scale-like and the lateral pairs are keeled. With the exception of ''T. plicata'', the lateral leaves are shorter than the facial leaves (Li ''et al'' 2005). The solitary flowers are produced terminally. Pollen cones with 2-6 pairs of 2-4 pollen sacked sporophylls. Seed cones ellipsoid, typically 9-14mm long, they mature and open the first year. The thin woody cone scales number from 4-6 pairs and are persistent and overlapping, with an oblong shape, they are also basifixed. The central 2-3 pairs of cone scales are fertile. The seed cones produce 1 to 3 seeds per scale, the seeds are lenticular in shape and equally 2 winged. Seedlings produce 2 cotyledons.<ref>Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 1993. ''Pteridophytes and gymnosperms. Flora of North America north of Mexico, v. 2''. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508242-7 Page 410.</ref><ref>Henry A Gleason. ''New Britton and Brown Illustrated flora of Eastern North America and adjacent Canada Vol 1, The Pteridophya, Gymnospermae and Monocotyledoneae.'' Hafner Press, pp 58-67. </ref>
A [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] between ''T. standishi'' and ''T. plicata'' has been named as the [[cultivar]] ''Thuja'' 'Green Giant'.
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Thuja (Thya or Thyia, an ancient Greek name for a resinous tree or shrub). Also spelled Thuya or Thuia. Including Biota. Pinaceae. Arbor-vitae. Ornamental woody plants, grown for their handsome evergreen foliage and formal habit.
Thuja (Thya or Thyia, an ancient Greek name for a resinous tree or shrub). Also spelled Thuya or Thuia. Including Biota. Pinaceae. Arbor-vitae. Ornamental woody plants, grown for their handsome evergreen foliage and formal habit.
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