The natural history of the northwoods . In parts of New England occasionally to 25 ' tall, A treelike form is common in Europe. Leaves simple, stiff and arranged in whorls of three with pungent odor.
Younger leaves tend to be more needlelike whereas mature leaves are scalelike.
Twigs yellowish or green when young, turn brown and harden with age. Bark thin, shreddy or scaly, often exfoliating into thin strips. Perhaps the most widely distributed tree in the world, circumboreal across North America, Europe, northern Asia and Japan. In North America beyond the tree limit, from Alaska to Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland, south through New England to the Carolinas and west through NE Illinois, Indiana, northern Ohio, Minnesota, and Nebraska to the western montains of Washington, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Widespread throughout Europe with the exception of certain Mediterranean lowlands, arctic, and subarctic regions.