Thuja plicata, commonly called western red cedar or giant red cedar, is native to the Pacific Northwest where it is typically found in cool but moist forest areas and bottomlands from southern Alaska along the Pacific coast to northern California and in the northern Rockies from British Columbia to Montana. This is the largest tree in the ...

The thuja plicata virescens is a cultivar of the plant Western Red Cedar belonging to the family Cupressaceae (Cypress) and the genus Thuja. It has dark green foliage of a unique scale-like pattern with the specific shine adding to its beauty.

Virescens Western Red Cedar. Thuja plicata ‘Virescens’ becomes a tall, tight, pyramid with up-reaching branches and a slightly narrower habit than the species. Its dark green foliage, which stays green all year, is so glossy that it seems to glisten.

Virescens Red Cedar is a dense evergreen tree with a strong central leader and a distinctive and refined pyramidal form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage.

Virescens is a fast growing cultivar of the Western Red Cedar with a densley pyramidal, or conical shape and dark green foliage well suited to hedging or screening use. Growing 15 -18 ft high, it has a wonderful texture and color in a mixed conifer planting or as a specimen.

Virescens Western Red Cedar is a fast, upright growing variety of the towering West Coast native tree. It responds very well to shearing and easily creates a large privacy hedge. It can be carefully pruned for a formal look or less pruned for a more relaxed look that is still dense and thick.

Virescens Western Red Cedar’s dense, bushy habit makes it one of the best evergreen privacy hedges. It is easy to maintain as it needs pruning twice a year. Its foliage creates secure, safe and comfortable nesting ground for birds.

So, if you have a smaller yard where you need a fast-growing privacy plant, Thuja 'Virescens' is the perfect fit for you. This is a very deer resistant evergreen. Growth is up to 3 ft. per year with a width of 5 ft.

Other Names: Western Red Cedar, Western Arborvitae. Brand: Iseli Nursery. Description: This sturdy and beautiful evergreen tree becomes a tall, tight pyramid with up-swept branches; foliage is deep, glossy green all year, and takes pruning exceptionally well; a perfect vertical accent, or dense screen; adaptable to different soil conditions

The Western red cedar is the largest tree in the cypress family. In its native habitat, it can reach up to 200 feet tall and live for hundreds, and even thousands, of years. The tree’s scale-like foliage that is aromatic when crushed and its red-brown bark is equally fragrant.