Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco (syn. Thuja orientalis L.)

Posted byTrajche DimitrovskiPosted inUncategorized

Taxonomy: Fam. Cupressaceae// Genus: Platycladus// Species: Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco.

Determined according to the botanical key provided by Tutin (1964 in Tutin et al.).

Lifeform:  Perennial, shrub or small tree. Phanerophyte according to the  Raunkiær system.

Distribution: Native from Russian Far East to East Central China according to the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). Introduced species in the Osogovo region of North Macedonia.

Habitat: Frequently cultivated plant in urban areas. Sporadically found as an escape.

Flowering period:  Spring.

Platycladus orientalis – habit. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – branches. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – branch with spent male cones. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – branch with developed immature female cones. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – immature female cones. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – immature female cones. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – branch with female initial buds. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – twigs with leaves. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – twigs with leaves. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – twigs with leaves. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Platycladus orientalis – woody part of branch. Gorge of the Kochanska River, 24.05.2025. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

References:

Platycladus orientalis (L.) Franco. Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:677124-1 [Accessed 17.04.2026].

Platycladus orientalis. Raab-Straube, E. von 2014+: Gymnospermae. – In: Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/. https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/c44fc896-2f42-4b81-afd5-be35c8e7ab99 [Accessed 17.04.2026].

Tutin, T. G. 1964. Thuja L. In Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A. (eds.), Flora Europaea. Volume 1. Lycopodiaceae to Platanaceae. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 37–38.