Eastern Red Cedar: Juniperus virginiana

The Eastern Red Cedar, is a tree with a considerable history, that few know about. It's also a bit of a misnamed plant. The Eastern Red Cedar isn't even a cedar at. Instead, it's a juniper. The name cedar goes all the way back to the first writings of the discovery of the new world in Virginia. They wrote back and described this tree as the most magnificent of all the cedars. Since then the name has lived on, even though the botanical experts refuse to accept the common name red cedar. Other names for the plant are the Eastern Juniper.

Growth Forms

The Eastern Red Cedar is a scraggly type tree that has a few different growth forms. In the east, the plant is often tall and erect. In the western part of it's range, the tree tends to be almost shrub-like.

Identifying this plant

If you're in the native range of this plant, there are a few things you can look for that make it unique from other conifers that look somewhat similar.

Leaves

The leaves are of two types: Shapr, spreaking needle-like juvenile leaves 5-10cm long, and tightly adpressed scale-like adult leaves 2-4 mm long. They are arranged in oppossite decussate pairs or occassionally whorls of three. The photo below shows an adult male tree's leaves.

Trunk

The bark on the trunk is reddish-brown, fibrous, and peels off in narrow strips.

Berries

Only female trees produce the tiny blue berries. Squeeze them between your fingers and you'll find a nice little seed. However, juniper "berries" are not true berries. They are cones with unusually fleshy and merged scales.

Where does the eastern red cedar grow?

Natively Juniperus virginiana can be found almost exclusively in the eastern US. The map below was taken from specific county data from Pollenlibrary.com. Individual counties recorded the presence or absence of the tree and marked them on the map. We then took this map and made it graphical. Thus, this map should be one of the most accurate, in terms of current range of the tree. 

History

Pencils!

Back in the day, the Red cedar was the choice for pencils. The wood was great to work with as it was soft and aromatic. The only problem was that they cut down all the red cedar trees in the US by about 1920. Now, they've moved on to other trees (and synthetic materials).

The Apple Orchard Controversy

Red Cedar trees are hosts for a disease that inflicts apple orchards. More on this to come! 

The Flavor of Gin 

You might not be familiar with many recipies that call for juniper berries spices. However, if you've ever had gin, then you're famillear with the taste ... pungent and piney. The Juniper berry is what gives the gin it's flavor. However, it should be noted that this particular species of Juniper isn't where most of the spice comes from. Instead, the tastiest juniper berriese are said to come from Macedonia and Albania.