Tree · Cupressaceae
Arborvitae
Thuja occidentalis
Arborvitae is recorded as native to 20 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 297 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Arborvitae at a glance
- Native in
- 297 counties, across 20 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 50 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Arborvitae is recorded as native to 20 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 297 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 297 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Connecticut statewide record
- Illinois 5 counties
- Indiana 3 counties
- Kentucky 5 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Maryland 3 counties
- Massachusetts 8 counties
- Michigan 66 counties
- Minnesota 22 counties
- New Hampshire 8 counties
- New Jersey 5 counties
- New York 38 counties
- Ohio 3 counties
- Pennsylvania 9 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- Tennessee 13 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 26 counties
- West Virginia 6 counties
- Wisconsin 47 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 50 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Conical
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 35 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.2 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 30 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Not recorded
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Cupressaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- THOC2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Thuja occidentalis (PLANTS symbol THOC2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources