Red Cedar or Juniper (Juniperus virginiana)

Form

Straight trunk, sometimes having lobed appearance; crown is pyramidal, becoming rounded; height 25 to 30 feet when growing in good locations; seldom exceeds 1 foot in diameter; may be multi-stemmed or nearly prostrate on poor, rocky and dry sites.

Bark

Thin, reddish brown, peeling off in long, vertical shred-like strips.

Leaf

2 kinds, usually found on same tree; more common kind is dark green, minute and scale-like, clasping the stem in 4 ranks so that the stem appears square; second kind usually appears on young trees or vigorous shoots, are awl-shaped, quite sharp-pointed, spreading and whitened on underside.

Fruit

A dark blue berry-like cone; diameter 1/4 inch, enclosing 1 to 4 seeds in the sweet flesh; matures in 1 season.

Range

Dry, gravelly soil, and rocky ledges in southern half of state; most abundant on limestone rides in southwestern part of state where few other trees are found. One of the first trees to invade abandoned fields.

Wood

Red, fine-grained, soft, weak, fragrant and very durable; used for interior woodwork, chests, closets, lead pencils, posts and poles.

Notes

Is a favorable winter food for some birds. Red cedar spreads cedar rust of apples; therefore it is not favorable to plant in or near orchards or anywhere in regions devoted to commercial apple production.