Platycladus orientalis 'Van Hoey Smith'
Common name: 
Van Hoey Smith Chinese Arborvitae
Van Hoey Smith Oriental Arborvitae
Pronunciation: 
plat-ee-KLAD-us o-ree-en-TAH-lis
Family: 
Cupressaceae
Genus: 
Synonyms: 
Thuja orientalis 'Van Hoey Smith'
Thuja orientalis 'Aureovariegata'
Type: 
Conifer
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Conifer, evergreen, shrub, upright, somewhat loose, yellow-gold variegation, slow growing, about 6-12 inches (15-30 cm) per year, about 8 × 3 ft (2.4 × 0.9 m) in 10 years.
  • Sun
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 6       
  • This selection, now marketed as 'Van Hoey Smith', was previously known as 'Aureovariegata', but this was viewed as an illegitimate name since it is a "latinized" cultivar name applied to a selection after 1959, the year international taxonomic rules (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature) banned the practice of using Latin or latinized cultivar names.  The plant was renamed to honor J.R.P. van Hoey Smith formerly director of the Trompenburg Arboretum in Rotterdam and President of the International Dendrology Society and author or co-author (often with D.M. van Gelderen) of many "plant books" including, Conifers: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, Rhododendron Portraits, and Maples of the World.
  • Taxonomy:  At one time this species was in the Thuja genus, as Thuja orientalis. It has been transferred to the genus Platycladus, hence Platycladus orientalis; therefore, Platycladus orientalis ‘Van Hoey Smith’.  However, some nurseries and retail outlets continue to use the older designation.

 

Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • branchlets

    branchlets