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arborvitae, (genus Thuja), (Latin: “tree of life”), any of the five species of the genus Thuja, resinous, evergreen ornamental and timber conifers of the cypress family (Cupressaceae), native to North America and eastern Asia. A closely related genus is false arborvitae.

Arborvitae are trees or shrubs, usually pyramidal in habit, with thin, scaling outer bark and fibrous inner bark, horizontal or ascending branches, and characteristically flattened, spraylike branchlet systems. Each branchlet has four rows of tiny, scalelike leaves. Juvenile leaves are much longer and needlelike and in some species may persist along with the mature foliage.