Eastern Redcedar

The Eastern red cedar is a tree of oval, columnar, or pyramidal form and pointed at the apex. This species is the tallest of the junipers, with individuals sometimes reaching nearly 100 feet, but usually between 30 and 40 feet in height and a diameter 1 to 3 feet at breast height. The species usually occurs as isolated individuals, but in rolling limestone hills can occur as nearly pure stands. It is known by other names such as the red juniper or pencil cedar.

The LEAVES are scale-like, opposite, usually pointed at the apex; color dark green or blue-green (depending on the time of year – pinkish in cold winter); scale margins smooth, not minutely toothed at 20x mag. Leaves of adult branchlets tightly appressed, broadly deltoid, obtuse or subacute, entire, about 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long.

Female tree FRUITS are small, spherical to irregularly-shaped berrylike cones that are often silvery-blue by the end of the season. They serve as a food source for birds and other wildlife when they mature. Birds devour the fruit and ‘plant’ it along farm fences and in old abandoned fields. The fruit tends to be dark purple and glaucous when mature, one- or two-seeded, 6-10 mm (0.25-0.4 in) in diameter.

The mature BARK is thin and often shredding into thin strips. Exposure of the inner bark (such as rubbing by velvet-antlered bucks in late summer) reveals a bright orange color beneath the light-brown to faded-gray outer bark. The texture is soft, fibrous, and shredded.

The WOOD includes thin, white sapwood, while the Heartwood is red to deep reddish-brown. The sapwood may be in stripes, alternating with stripes of Heartwood. Typical uses include fence posts, chests, wardrobes, closet linings, pencils, carvings, pet bedding, furniture, flooring, scientific instruments, small boats and household items. Oil from the wood (cedrol) is used in the manufacture of perfumes and medicines.