The Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is a widespread conifer across eastern North America, often seen in various landscapes from fields to roadsides. Despite its common name, it is botanically a juniper, not a true cedar, which belongs to a different genus. This article profiles the Eastern Red Cedar, detailing its appearance, identifying features, wood characteristics, and how to distinguish it from similar species.
Overall Tree Profile
The Eastern Red Cedar grows as a medium-sized evergreen tree, reaching heights of 20 to 50 feet. Its width spans 8 to 20 feet, creating a relatively compact form. Young trees often exhibit a dense, conical or pyramidal shape, with branches extending close to the ground.
As the tree matures, its crown can become more irregular, rounded, or even columnar, depending on its growing conditions and age. It is an upright evergreen.
Key Identifying Features
The bark of the Eastern Red Cedar is a distinct reddish-brown to grayish color, characterized by its fibrous and shreddy texture. It peels off in long, narrow, vertical strips, often revealing a lighter, ashy gray layer beneath.
Its foliage displays two primary types of leaves. Adult trees predominantly feature small, scale-like leaves, about 1/16 inch long, that are tightly pressed against the twigs and arranged in overlapping pairs or whorls of three. These are typically dull green, but can take on a bronze or reddish-brown hue in winter, especially in colder climates. Younger trees or new growth on mature trees often display sharp, awl-shaped, needle-like leaves, which are longer and more spreading.
Female trees produce small, fleshy, berry-like cones. These cones are typically round and mature to a distinctive blue-grey color, often covered with a whitish, waxy bloom. They appear in spring and ripen in the fall. Male trees produce small, yellowish-brown pollen cones that are inconspicuous.
The Distinctive Wood
The wood of the Eastern Red Cedar is highly recognizable for its striking color and aromatic properties. Its heartwood displays a vibrant reddish-purple to deep reddish-brown hue, which can darken over time. This contrasts sharply with the creamy white or pale yellow sapwood, which often appears as streaks within the darker heartwood.
The grain of the wood is generally straight, with a fine and even texture. Its most notable characteristic is its strong, sweet, and resinous aroma, particularly noticeable when the wood is cut or worked.
Distinguishing Red Cedar from Similar Species
Distinguishing Eastern Red Cedar from other conifers involves examining several key features. Unlike true cedars (genus Cedrus), Eastern Red Cedar is a juniper. Its berry-like cones are a primary differentiator, as true cedars and some other “false cedars” produce woody cones with visible scales.
Compared to Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), Eastern Red Cedar’s foliage is less flattened and more rounded or four-sided in cross-section, while Atlantic White Cedar has flatter, fern-like sprays. Atlantic White Cedar typically grows in wet, swampy areas, whereas Eastern Red Cedar tolerates drier, more disturbed sites. Its bark, while shreddy, differs in texture and appearance.
Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis), also known as Arborvitae, has very flattened, fan-like sprays of scale-like leaves. This contrasts with the more rounded, less planar foliage of Eastern Red Cedar. Northern White Cedar’s cones are small, oblong, and woody, distinctly different from the fleshy, blue-grey cones of Eastern Red Cedar. The bark of Northern White Cedar often has more defined ridges and furrows compared to the more fibrous, shreddy bark of Eastern Red Cedar.