Scientific Name: Juniperus virginiana L.
Common Name(s): Red Cedar, Easter Red Cedar, Pencil Cedar, Carolina Cedar, Virginia Juniper

Photos by Kayla Sayre, Bella Vista POA

Identification:

The eastern red cedar is a native evergreen tree in the cypress family (Cupressaceae). Members of this family include junipers and redwoods. Red cedar trees reach heights of 30 to 40 feet on average, but have been recorded to reach heights of 90 feet. The bark of red cedar is silver to red in color and relatively soft in texture. The plant produces two types of needles. Juvenile needles are longer (5 to 10 mm) and sharp, while adult needles are shorter (2 to 4 mm) and scale-like. Eastern red cedar trees are dioecious, meaning they have pollen and seed cones on separate male and female trees. The female produces a 3 to 7 mm sky-blue juniper berry with a white-wax cover, with each berry containing 1 to 3 seeds. The pollen cones are much smaller, measuring 2 to 3 mm. The seeds become mature 6 to 8 months after pollination.

Similar Species:

There are three species in the genus Juniperus that may be confused with the eastern red cedar.  Although eastern red cedar has “cedar” in its common name, it is a juniper tree that produces juniper berries, unlike true cedars. It can be mistaken for the southern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana L. var. silicicola) and the Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum Sarg.), which are both true juniper trees and produce purple/blue juniper berries. The southern red cedar has smaller cones at maturation than the other two. Furthermore, the needles on the Rocky Mountain juniper overlap where they do not in the eastern red cedar. The main distinction between these three trees is their habitat distribution. The southern red cedar is tolerant of salt and sand and is associated with sand dunes and brackish marshes in southern coastal states. The Rocky Mountain juniper is tolerant of dry climates and is found in the southwestern United States. The Rocky Mountain juniper and eastern red cedar’s habitat overlaps in Oklahoma, Texas, and other central plains states, where there is hybridization.

https://plants.usda.gov/home

Range:

The eastern red cedar has a vast distribution in the eastern and central United States, Colorado, and Washington. It overlaps in distribution with the southern red cedar (distributed in southern coastal states) and Rocky Mountain juniper (distributed in central plain states and western states), which can be easily confused with it.

Ecology:

Eastern red cedar is often the first to repopulate disturbed habitats, so it is referred to as a pioneer species. It can live in soils ranging from acidic to limestone, but occurs in high numbers in limestone soils, such as in the Ozarks. Eastern red cedar does best in dry soil and full sunlight. It can persist in various conditions, from partial to full shade and poor to rich soil nutrients. However, it is not often found in rich soil because faster growing and shade-tolerant hardwoods outcompete it. Eastern red cedar is a slow growing but long-lived species that can live longer than 300 years, with the potential to live up to 900 years.  The oldest eastern red cedar was 940 years old and located in West Virginia. Once established, eastern red cedar grows in thick stands and often requires fire or other mechanical thinning.

Eastern red cedar is a very aggressive species that was historically controlled by fire. It is native to the region but can be considered invasive in some habitats due to fire suppression. For example, in Arkansas, eastern red cedar can overgrow into glade habitats. Glade habitats are rocky, nutrient-poor, and mostly treeless habitats that sustain endemic and endangered species such as the collared lizard. Eastern red cedars thrive in this open habitat and overtake the open glade without controlled burns, storms, or drought to cull their populations.

Eastern red cedar also has a fascinating human-use and harvest history, especially in the Ozarks. Eastern red cedar was once the most harvested wood in the region.  Harvested red cedar was historically used for cabins, shingles, fence posts, furniture, and rail fences. Its harvested redwood is naturally resistant to rot and insect invasion. The wood is used extensively to make chests and to line closets because it is a natural repellent to cloth eating moths. Young trees were traditionally used as Christmas trees throughout their range.  Additionally, eastern red cedar heartwood was exclusively used for pencils until recently, when incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) replaced it. The berries are used to spice cider, meats, and has many other culinary uses.

Special Notes:

In Northwest Arkansas, eastern red cedar is found in most forest habitats and abandoned fields. Red cedar is a hardy species that can be found in almost any climate, habitat, and soil, such as prairies (oak barrens), old pastures, limestone hills, along highways, and near construction sites. Although it is native to the region, it is considered a native-invasive that was historically controlled by fire. Controlled and prescribed fires are vital to optimal forest health. Cedars are an obligatory host of cedar apple rust which affects apple trees by causing yellow and then brown fungal spots on the leaves. Heavy infestations can cause economic loss to apple orchards. Removing cedar trees breaks the life cycle which prevents the disease on apple trees.
 
Cedar Apple Rust on a cedar tree and a heavy infestation on the leaves of an apple tree.