EDIT: if i were to guess... i would probably be wrong.. lol ...

ken

This post was edited by ken_adrian on Fri, Oct 18, 13 at 9:54

It looks like Thujopsis. Then you say it is sharp like the juniper.

I've seen other trees growing on other trees where a seed germinated in a opportunity place.

Dax

No - DO NOT REMOVE IT (unless you don't want it!). It is a volunteer of something else - either Calocedrus or Thujopsis.

A Thuja seedling, probably T. plicata (which at least here, regenerates very readily, unlike T. occidentalis). Not Thujopsis or Calocedrus.

Resin

Resin,

I'm very interested (and impressed) in how you do this! What morphological characteristics in the above photo point to Thuja rather than Thujopsis or Calocedrus?

Thanks,
Alex

Here are some close-ups...

I don't have any Calocedrus or Thujopsis with cones around....

Ireena

Hi Ireena

Thats Thuja occidentalis

But look at it's stem in the shot 2 with sharp juvenile needles! And little new twigs.... Maybe.... My thuja occidentalis 'Rheingold' have some juvenile needles. But it is yellow... And have not any cone...

Ireena

It looks just like the Thuja plicatas I have popping up all over from my large ones. They are native here.
Definitely not a Calocedrus or Thujopsis. I have both.

Mike

"Resin,

I'm very interested (and impressed) in how you do this! What morphological characteristics in the above photo point to Thuja rather than Thujopsis or Calocedrus?

Thanks,
Alex"

The foliage is too slender / smooth for Thujopsis (without its thick, 'fleshy' appearance), and doesn't have the leaf arrangement of Calocedrus (lateral and facial leaf pairs arising from virtually the same point).

I'm still for Thuja plicata as the best identification. The one other possibility for this is Cupressus nootkatensis; that is readily separable by smell (sour-resinous, very different from the sweet pineapple scent of Thujs plicata).

Resin

this seedling western arborvitae. In the juvenile age in seedling conifers like juniper, then grows real needles, but as the photos.