EASTERN RED CEDAR

EASTERN RED CEDAR

Juniperus virginiana
CYPRESS FAMILY (Cupressaceae)

Click on each photo thumbnail to enlarge.

This native evergreen grows to 60 feet tall, with male and female cones on separate trees. Male trees appear more yellowish green (B-left) than the darker green female trees (B-right). See the yellow male cones (C) and light blue female berry-like cones (D) in the close-ups. The leaves are in the form of tiny, overlapping scales. Cedar-apple rust, a common fungus is sometimes seen on cedar in the spring as a gelatinous, orange mass (E). In winter the ripe gall is is brown, up to 2 inches in diameter and hard (F). This fungus also infects apple trees, as reflected by its common name.

Planted or growing freely in prairies, where they are controlled by cutting. In Fontenelle Forest, rare, mostly young, stunted saplings less than 3 feet tall, which do not mature. At Neale Woods, planted as a windbreak along the edge of Koley Prairie.

Also known as Eastern Red Cedar and Red Juniper.

The content of NatureSearch is provided by dedicated volunteer Naturalists of Fontenelle Forest who strive to provide the most accurate information available. Contributors of the images retain their copyrights. The point of contact for this page is: Roland Barth.