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Juniperus virginiana
Eastern Red Cedar, Pencil Cedar, Carolina Cedar, Virginia Red Cedar, Baton rouge, Juniper, Virginia Juniper, Red Juniper, Savin, Red Savin, Cedar Apple,Cedar tree

Photo by Keith Kanoti

Eastern Red Cedar is a sturdy, aromatic, evergreen, pyramid-shaped or columnar tree which usually grows to about 60 feet, though it can reach 90 feet. This species is considered a pioneer tree that colonizes sunny areas that are relatively dry and sterile. Adapted to dry habitats, it is native throughout central and eastern North America and is reported in mountain, piedmont and coastal plane counties of NC. Red Cedar is a wonderfully useful resource. The darker brown-red heartwood (the inner wood) is fragrant, light and durable, even in contact with soil. Because of its rot resistance, the wood is used for fence posts. Because it is aromatic and avoided by moths, it is widely used as lining for clothes chests and closets. Also, the fruits and young branches contain aromatic oil that is used in medicines. Red Cedar is dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants). The male cones are brown and papery, the female cones resemble waxy blue berries. The female berries are used to flavor gin. Red Cedar can spread and colonize in fields if left untended long-term, and in some parts of the country is problematic now that fire is no longer allowed to control it. Birds, like the cedar waxwing, eat the waxy blue berry-like cones (a process that greatly increases seed germination rate). It is an important food source for many other birds, as well as mammals, and it provides very high quality shelter within its thick foliage for many animals, especially in winter. Eastern Red Cedar (which is actually a Juniper, not a Cedar) is a relatively long lived tree, up to 300 years in favorable conditions. Because there is so much variability in the form of individual trees, many cultivars have been developed from outstanding individuals, propagated asexually.

Last Updated: May 20, 2019

Key Info

Scientific Name: Juniperus virginiana L.
Common Names: Eastern Red Cedar, Pencil Cedar, Carolina Cedar, Virginia Red Cedar, Baton rouge, Juniper, Virginia Juniper, Red Juniper, Savin, Red Savin, Cedar Apple,Cedar tree
Family Name: Cupressaceae (Cypress Family)
Plant Type: Tree / Shrub
Uses: Naturalizing, Hedge, Wildlife plant, Screening, Windrow
Light Requirement: Full sun, Full shade-bright, Partial/sunny, Partial/shady
Moisture Requirement: Dry, Medium, Moist well drained
Leaf Retention: Evergreen
Bloom Times: Mar, Apr, May
Flower Color: Blue berries
Special Characteristics: Attracts butterflies, Attracts birds, Showy fruit, Good wildlife cover/habitat, Evergreen, Excellent timber, Tolerates dry conditions, Tolerates Black Walnut, Foliage fragrant, Reported to be deer resistant.

Additional Info

Habit: Upright; densely pyramidal, sometimes columnar conifer with fine to medium texture and horizontal branching. Its mature form is quite variable. The silvery to reddish-brown bark shreds and exfoliates as the tree matures. The trunk is often buttressed or fluted at the base. Root system is woody, shallow, and spreading.
Height: up to 90' but usually 60' or less 30-40'
Spread: up to 25'
Growth Rate: Moderate
Soil Conditions: Mesic to dry (not wet); circumneutral pH; nutrient-poor, sandy, rockyk sandy loam, clay loam, clay, limestone-based.
Leaves: Leaves are of two types; opposite, sharp, needlelike juvenile leaves (on young plants) or opposite, simple, green or blue-green, scale-like, overlapping, closely appressed adult leaves. The juvenile leaves are found on young plants up to 3 years old, and as scattered shoots on adult trees. Fragrant, scale-like foliage is gray-green to blue-green to light- or dark-green. All colors tend to brown in winter.
Flowers (or reproductive structures): Eastern Red Cedar is dioecious, with pollen cones (male flowers) and seed cones (female flowers) on separate trees. Male cones are yellowish-brown, 1/8 inch long, oval, papery, and produced in large groups at the tips of branchlets. They release their pollen to the wind during the spring. The seed cones are solitary at the tips of branchlets, are initially green, becoming blue, waxy-fleshy and berrylike, sweet-tasting, and resinous, ripening in September - October.
Fruit: Each seed cone typically contains 1-2 yellow-brown, ridged seeds about 1/8" long.
Natural Distribution: Dry woods, abandoned fields, fence rows, rocky bluffs, sandstone and limestone glades, roadside embankments, gravelly areas along railroads.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 2 to 9
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: FACU
Pollination: Wind
Wildlife Connections: Red Cedar is a larval host for the Olive butterfly and the Juniper Hairstreak butterfly as well as larvae of many moths, flies, beetles, scales, midges and thrips. Red Cedar's blue berry-like cones, high in carbohydrates and fats, provide excellent food for a long list of song birds and upland game birds. (The Cedar Waxwing is actually named after the tree). Because of its dense foliage, a number of bird species nest in Red Cedar (Cooper's Hawk, Blue Jay, Mockingbirds, Robins, Warblers, Finches, Sparrows) and also roost there (notably owls and sparrows). Mammals which also enjoy the sweet berries include Black Bear, Gray Fox, Opossum, Eastern Chipmunk, and White-Footed Mouse. Illinoiswildflowers.info is a great resource for these connections.
Pharmacology: Juniper oil is distilled from the wood, twigs and leaves. The cones are used to flavor gin and as a kidney medicine. The fruits and young branches contain aromatic oil that is used in medicines. A tea can be made from twigs (without berries). The leaves and fleshy cones (which resemble berries) are mildly toxic to humans (NCSU).
Cultural Notes: Brownish-red heartwood is fragrant, light and very durable, even in contact with soil. The aromatic wood is avoided by moths, so it is in demand as lining for clothes chests and closets. It also can be made into excellent bows.
Downside: The variability of the form of individual trees is a downside for landscapers, who need predictability of plant form for their designs. Can be weedy in disturbed, unattended areas. Red Cedar can be injurious to apple orchards because it is an alternate host for cedar-apple rust, a fungal disease which affects members of the Apple family.
Propagation: From seed.
USDA/NRCS Plant Distribution Map: View Map at USDA.gov

Availability

Available: Smalls, $4

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Cure Nursery is a small nursery propagating and selling native plants for the Southeastern U.S. We are located near the town of Pittsboro, Chatham County, in central NC.

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