Check out May’s Tree of the Month, the Eastern Redcedar!

Long before European settlers arrived in North America, the Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana, hereafter, “Redcedar”) stood as a familiar sight across the continent—its fragrant, reddish wood and blue-gray berries already valued by Indigenous peoples for medicine, tools, and ceremony. Though not a true cedar, this resilient tree earned its common name from early European colonists, who likened its aromatic wood to the prized cedars of the Old World.

Eastern Redcedar is a tree of paradoxes. For starters, it’s not a cedar – There are no native cedars in the Americas. Redcedar is a conifer, but it has blue-gray berries rather than cones, in the usual sense. Like other conifers, we class Redcedar as a softwood, but its wood is harder than many so-called hardwoods, including Ohio Buckeye. Many see Redcedar a trash-tree, but families pass down chests made of redcedar lumber for generations. 

Appearance

Leaves

Redcedar leaves (a term which includes needles and other foliage) are of two types. The juvenile foliage consists of small, pointed needles. Mature foliage consists of small, scale-like leaves. Despite the fact that Redcedar is not deciduous, its leaves often turn brown in winter, and recover their green color in the spring. 

Groups of leaves attach to branches in an alternating pattern. Alternately-arranged leaves or branches attach at different points along the length of branches or trunks. Oppositely-arranged leaves or branches attach directly across from one another. 

Cones

Juniperus virginiana cones look nothing like the woody cones associated with other conifers. Readers of this column know that “fruit” is a general term for seed-bearing bodies, such as apples and acorns. But strictly speaking, fruits come from flowering plants, and conifers don’t flower. The seed-bearing objects on conifers look like berries, but they still fall under the umbrella of “cones”, and cones can take multiple forms. Redcedar cones look like small blue-gray berries, and because Redcedars are dioecious, only female trees produce these cones. 

Bark

Redcedar bark is thin, reddish-brown, with a shredded appearance. Smaller trees are typically conical, while older trees are often columnar or irregularly shaped. 

Cedar-Apple Rust

A fungus known as Cedar-Apple Rust (Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae) often grows on Eastern Redcedar and other Junipers. Cedar-Apple Rust takes the form of 1- to 2-inch brown galls with numerous dimples. When Spring rains come, orange, gelatinous horns emerge from the dimples and release wind-borne spores. The spores travel to nearby apple or crabapple trees, where they damage the foliage and fruit. Fruit growers eliminate redcedars in the vicinity of apple orchards to prevent Cedar-Apple Rust, but spores can travel several miles. The 1918 annual report of Virginia’s Horticultural Society stated that, “Cedar eradication is the cheapest form of orchard insurance you can buy”, leading to cedar-eradication laws in Virginia and West Virginia. Redcedars were destroyed over large areas with no compensation to the tree owners. 

Mature Redcedars typically have a height of 40 to 60 feet and a trunk diameter of  1 to 2 feet. Ohio’s Champion Eastern Redcedar, located in Clermont County, has a height of 78 feet, a trunk diameter of 4.2 feet, and a crown width of 34 feet. 

ID Summary: Scale-like slender evergreen foliage, often with some short, sharp needles. Blue-gray berry-like cones on females. Thin, shredded reddish-brown bark. Cedar-apple rust present on many. 

Similar Trees: The other native Ohio conifer without predominantly needle-like foliage, Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), has scale-like foliage arranged in flat fronds, and small woody cones similar to those on most conifers. 

Distribution

Juniperus virginiana isn’t picky about soil and can thrive in depleted landscapes. It also grows in dry soils, but can survive in wetter conditions as well. Redcedar is therefore a common succession species, taking over abandoned strip mines and abandoned farm fields. The trees can live for several hundred years, but because they are relatively shade-intolerant, they are often replaced by other species. Because of their thin bark and low branches, Redcedars have low fire resistance. J. virginiana grows in most of the eastern and east-central U.S., which testifies to its adaptability to various conditions. Lucy Braun’s The Woody Plants of Ohio shows that J. virginiana is present in all but two Ohio counties. Redcedars rank 79th on the City of Columbus Street Tree Inventory, making up 0.18% of the trees on streets and public areas. 

Uses

Eastern Redcedar lumber has a Janka hardness of 900 lbf and a density of 0.53 g/cc, according to the Wood Database, compared to the median of my list of 73 Ohio trees of 1,075 lbf and 0.64 g/cc. Because it’s a conifer, Redcedar is considered a softwood, but its wood is harder than many non-conifers (hardwoods), including Eastern Cottonwood, Yellow and Ohio Buckeyes, Tuliptree, Silver Maple, Sycamore, and others.

By Humans

Redcedar is highly aromatic and is used to make blanket chests and blocks to repel moths. However, the aromatic properties wear off after several years, limiting cedar’s usefulness as a moth repellent. A number of sources question its actual usefulness in repelling moths. In any case, its aromatic properties can be restored to some degree with a light sanding. Don’t apply finish to any surfaces where you desire its odor.

Redcedar has highly durable (rot-resistant) lunber used to make outdoor furniture and birdhouses. Juniperus virginiana logs make long-lasting fence posts. But because only the inner heartwood has attractive odor and color, the already smallish logs do not provide enough wood to make Redcedar a significant source of lumber. We make countless novelty items from redcedar, including souvenir salt and pepper shakers and toothpick holders, and of course, pencils. 

J. virginiana was once the main source of wood for pencils. Donald Culross Peattie’s A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America relates that in 1900, 3,000,000 feet (presumably board-feet, each of which is equivalent to 1 square foot and 1-inch thickness) of cedar was sent down the Cumberland River, primarily for making pencils. When the virgin stands were exhausted, stumps, cabins, barn floors, and even rail fences were scavenged, leading to the substitution of Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) for wooden pencils. 

Redcedar ranks as one of the top five conifers used for Christmas trees. Eastern Redcedar is also important as a source of cedarwood oil, which is used in perfumes, and as a natural insect repellent (but not the most effective one in my unscientific experiment to keep ticks off of my dog). 

Some varieties of Juniperus virginiana are sold for landscaping, and they’re available in various forms, from ground-hugging shrubs to slender, columnar trees. They probably deserve more attention for landscaping in sunny, well-drained areas, because they tolerate drought, heat, cold, salt, and insects, and of course, they are native. 

Gin gets its name from the Dutch word jenever, which means “juniper.” Juniper berries provide the flavor of gin. Teresa Marrone’s Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio Wild Berries & Fruits Field Guide reports that, “Female cones reportedly can be roasted to use as a coffee substitute, but are not edible”. 

Cedar-wood oil is extracted from the heartwood and foliage of Eastern Redcedar to produce fragrance in soaps, sprays, disinfectants, and cleaning agents. 

According to the Native American Ethnobotany Database, the Indians’ uses for Juniperus virginiana include the following: 

• Cherokee – To induce abortions, to induce sweating, as a cold remedy, to treat skin conditions, including measles rashes, to resist moths, for furniture and fence posts,
• Chippewa – An herbal steam from twigs to treat rheumatism, bark to make a mahogany dye, bark for making mats,
• Comanche – Fruits [female cones] eaten as food,
• Dakota – Smoke inhaled to treat colds, boughs placed on tipis to ward off lightning, 
• Iroquois – Decoction taken for coughs, and as a diuretic,
• Kiowa – Berries chewed for canker sores, needles burned as an incense during prayer, heartwood used to make love flutes, 
• Lakota – Berries used to season foods, leaves and twigs burnt at funerals as incense,
• Meskawi – Decoction of foliage taken as a strengthener, 
• Navajo – Wooden wands used in war dances,
• Ojibwa – Bark used to cover dwellings, wooden stakes used to delineate grave sites, wood used for cradle boards, foliage and berries used for headaches. 

By Wildlife

Red Cedar Spittlebug (Clastoptera arborina), Small Cedar Bark Borer (Atimia confusa confusa), the butterfly Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus) consume parts of the Redcedar tree. White-tailed Deer browse on the leaves, fruits, and twigs. The USDA Silvics of North America indicates that, “Eastern redcedar fruits are eaten by many wildlife species, including waxwings, bobwhite, quail, ruffed grouse, pheasant, wild turkeys, rabbits, foxes, raccoons, skunks, opossums, and coyotes”. So great is Cedar Waxwing’s fondness for this tree that it derives its common name from it. 

The USDA Plants Database states that, “In addition to their wildlife food value, cedars provide important protective and nesting cover. Chipping sparrows, robins, song sparrows, and mockingbirds use these trees as one of their favorite nesting sites. Juncos, myrtle warblers, sparrows of various kinds, and other birds use the dense foliage as roosting cover”. 

The list of uses for this remarkable tree goes on, and may be continued in future Tree of the Month articles. 

In Europe, juniper branches were smouldered and carried around fields to protect livestock. People of the time invoked a goblin of the juniper tree, called “Frau Wachholder”, to make thieves return the goods they had stolen. This female demon could be approached if the person had lost something belonging to them. In Wales, it is believed that cutting down a Juniper tree will result in the woodcutter’s death the following year. 

Fred Hageneder’s The Meaning of Trees relates that in the Old World, juniper, yew, and true cedar were traded as cedar, and used for sacred purposes such as temple and palace roofs, coffins, and burial artifacts. Germans regarded juniper as sacred, and removed their hats when they walked past one. The Brothers Grimm story, The Juniper Tree, tells of the soul of a dead child rising from a juniper in the form of a bird. Hageneder goes on to say that because juniper juices were an effective contraceptive, the [Catholic] Church encouraged their felling. Early Christians burnt juniper branches indoors to protect themselves from witchcraft, especially on Walpurgis Night, and other holidays associated with spirits. 

Today, the Eastern Redcedar remains a tree of contradictions—a “softwood” harder than many hardwoods, a conifer with berry-like cones, and a species often dismissed as a weed yet cherished for its enduring legacy.

Much more can be said about Eastern Redcedar. Perhaps we’ll take it back up in subsequent articles.