Betula cordifolia young bark is shiny brown with pale brown lenticels. The leaves are alternate, ovate, 6–12 cm long, and double-toothed. As the specific epithet suggests, the leaf base is generally cordate (heart-shaped), however this can be misleading as it is occasionally flat or rounded. The leaves are dotted with many resin glands and the buds are ovoid and blunt. The twigs are yellow-brown to dark-brown and are dotted with resin glands and gray lenticels. They lack the hairs found on "Betula papyrifera". The flowers are catkins, with pollen catkins 2–4 cm long and seed catkins 1–2 cm long. The seed catkins
Thuja occidentalis its common names, it is not a true cedar in the genus "Cedrus", nor is it related to the Australian white cedar, "Melia azedarach". Unlike the closely related western red-cedar ("Thuja plicata"), northern white-cedar is only a small or medium-sized tree, growing to a height of tall with a trunk diameter, exceptionally to tall and diameter. The tree is often stunted or prostrate in less favorable locations. The bark is red-brown, furrowed and peels in narrow, longitudinal strips. Northern white-cedar has fan-like branches and scaly leaves. The foliage forms in flat sprays with scale-like leaves long. The seed cones are