Thuja orientalis is a plant of Cupressus in Cupressaceae. It grows at an altitude of 1, 500 meters above sea level, and has not been artificially introduced and cultivated at present. In the 1990s, it was not declared as an extinct species because of its rarity. At the beginning of the 20th century, a few plants were found in Daba Mountain area of Chongqing, belonging to endangered species, and logging was prohibited.
The collective name of six evergreen conifers of Cupressaceae, which are native to North America and East Asia and can be used for ornamental and resin production, and are closely related to Platycladus orientalis. Golden cypress is a kind of tree or shrub, usually pyramid-shaped, with thin scaly outer bark and fibrous inner bark. Its branches are horizontal or ascending, forming a unique flat and spray-like branchlet system, and each branchlet has 4 rows of tiny scaly leaves. Young leaves are long and needle-shaped and can coexist with mature leaves in some species. Monoecious plants have different branches, cones are attached to the branches, and male cones are round, reddish or yellowish; Female cones are small, green or purplish. Mature cones are solitary, ovoid or oblong, 8 ~ 16 mm (about12 inches) long, with 4 ~ 6 pairs (or 3 pairs, up to 10 pairs at most) of thin and elastic scales, and thick ridges or protrusions at the top.