Thuja occidentalis is an evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

 coniferous

Pinophyta

The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being...

 tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

, in the cypress family Cupressaceae

Cupressaceae

The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera , which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130-140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...

, which is widely cultivated for use as an ornamental plant known as American Arbor Vitae

Arbor vitae

-Anatomy:* Arbor vitae , white matter of the cerebellum* arbor vitæ uteri, a part of the canal of the cervix* Victorian slang for penis-Places:* Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin, a town, United States...

. The endemic occurrence of this species is a northeastern distribution in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. It is thought to be the first tree of that region to be cultivated in the area in and around Europe.

Common names include: Tree of Life, Yellow Cedar, American Arborvitae, Arbor Vitae, Atlantic White Cedar, Cedrus Lycea, Eastern White Cedar, False White Cedar, Hackmatack, Lebensbaum, Thuia du Canada, Thuja.
An evergreen tree with fan-like branches and scaly leaves.