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Description

Thuja is a general term for trees of the genus Thuja, which belongs to the Cupressaceae or cypress family. The most common species in North America are Thuja occidentalis, whose common names include arbor vitae or tree of life, white cedar, yellow cedar, American cedar, hackmatack, Thuia du Canada, swamp cedar, and Lebensbaum; and Thuja plicata, the Western red cedar. The species of cedar found in China and Japan is Thuja orientalis, and is known as ce bai ye or ya bai shu in Chinese.

Thujas are evergreen conifers, or cone-bearing trees. The name "Thuja" was given to this group of trees by the Swedish botanist Linnaeus in 1753; it comes from the Greek word thuo, which means "to sacrifice," as cedar wood was often burned with animal sacrifices by the ancients to add a pleasing aroma to the...