Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco

vernacular Oriental arborvitae — species · Cupressaceae

USDA: PLOR80
GBIF: 2684855
Rank: species

Oriental arborvitae (Platycladus orientalis) — Platephotograph · Patrick HackerCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Gymnosperm
Family: Cupressaceae Gray
Genus: Platycladus

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
PR Puerto Rico Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 2 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 2 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: Medium
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Low
Salinity: Medium
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: High

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 110 min.
Precipitation: 35–55 in/yr
pH range: 4.7–6.5
Root depth: 24 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Crown
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 40 ft
Height @ 20 y: 35 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Dense
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Spring
Seed abundance: Low
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 22,000
Propagation: seed, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: No
Fuelwood: Low
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 2 counties across 1 state.

Florida view state ↗ 2 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PLOR80 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2684855 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T10:50:45Z