What Is a Thuja Tree

Thuja is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress) family. … They are commonly known as arborvitaes (from Latin for tree of life) or Thujas; several species are widely known as cedar but, because they are not true cedars (Cedrus), it has been recommended to call them red-cedars or white-cedars.

What is the difference between Thuja and arborvitae?

Mature specimens of Thuja standishii x plicata “Green Giant” have an attractive, pyramidal shape. … While different suppliers may refer to this tree as Arborvitae “Green Giant” or Thuja “Green Giant,” they are the same species. This tall, narrow tree makes an excellent privacy screen or specimen planting.

What does a Thuja tree look like?

Thuja are evergreen trees growing from 10 to 200 feet (3 to 61 metres) 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.