Arborvitae

Arbor vitae (tree of life), the popular name of the various cultivated species of the genera Thuja and Biota, coniferous evergreen trees belonging to the cypress tribe. Their leaves are minute and are arranged imbricately on vertically-flattened branches, which are apt to be mistaken for leaves. The whole plant is resinous, and, when bruised, aromatic. The two chief species are Thuja occidentalis from eastern North America, and Biota orientalis from China and Japan, neither of which grow to timber size in Britain. The group is abundantly represented in a fossil state in the Secondary rocks.