小枝的排列扁平，猶如一平面，因此別名扁柏。葉甚細小，青翠，為常見栽培植物。球果近圓形，灰淡藍色，外被白粉，成熟時紅褐色裂開，細小的種子即中葯柏子仁，具安神和潤腸作用。

Branchlets arranged in a plane, with decussate leaves spreading and ascending while flattened, the Chinese Arborvitae is thus called 'Platycladus'.  The scale-like leaves, tiny and emerald green, make the shrub a much loved horticulture species.  Its near-spherical pollen cones, each carrying 3-6 pollen sacs, are grayish-blue with a white powdery cover when immature, and open to show windless seeds when brown-red and ripe.  These seeds are used in Chinese herbal medicine to calm the mind and lubricate the internals.