Mature trees growing on the escarpment at Devils Lake State Park, Wisconsin [C.J. Earle, 2023.05.04].
A young tree, 8 cm dbh and 6 m tall, in the understory of a hardwood deciduous forest near Tuscaloosa, Alabama [C.J. Earle, 2024.03.10].
A large forest interior tree in Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri [C.J. Earle, 2023.05.11].
A closed-canopy stand of mixed hardwoods and J. virginiana at Runge Nature Center, Missouri [C.J. Earle, 2023.05.12].
A seedling ca. 10 cm tall in Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri [C.J. Earle, 2023.05.11].
Typical juvenile foliage on at tree at Buffalo River State Park, Minnesota [C.J. Earle, 2019.09.28].
Typical adult foliage on at tree at Itasca State Park, Minnesota [C.J. Earle, 2019.09.29].
Nearly-ripe pollen cones on a tree at Lake Mineral Wells State Park, Texas [C.J. Earle, 2024.02.05].
Foliage with receptive female strobili on a tree at Bluffton Natural Area, Iowa [C.J. Earle, 2023.05.03].
Heavy crop of seed cones on a tree at Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa [C.J. Earle, 2019.10.11].
Bark on a forest interior tree at Bluffton Natural Area, Iowa. The frayed character indicates that small animals have been harvesting the bark, typically for nesting material [C.J. Earle, 2019.10.11].
A seed cone infected by cedar apple rust, Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae; Arrow Rock, Missouri [C.J. Earle, 2023.05.12].
J. virginiana regeneration following overstory removal by hurricane Michael in 2018 at Torreya State Park in Florida. The left sapling has all adult foliage, the center one has all juvenile, and the one at far right has both types [C.J. Earle, 2024.02.12].
A tree along a fenceline west of Council Grove, Kansas. Through the action of birds perching on fences and utility wires, J. virginiana has extended its range far west into the Great Plains, in some areas far enough to contact J. scopulorum which has been moving eastwards by the same mechanism [C.J. Earle, 2023.05.15].
Conservation Status
Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana
Common names
Eastern redcedar, cèdre rouge (Adams 1993).
Taxonomic notes
Syn: Juniperus virginiana var. crebra Fernald & Griscom; Sabina virginiana (Linnaeus) Antoine. It hybridizes with J. horizontalis and J. scopulorum. Reported hybridization with J. ashei has been refuted in subsequent studies (Adams 1993).
Description
"Trees to 30 m; crown narrowly erect (in young, fast-growing trees) to conic or occasionally round. Bark reddish brown. Branches erect, spreading, or pendulous. Scalelike leaves acute at apex. Pollen cones 3-4 mm. Seed cones globose to ovoid, 4-6(-7) mm. Seeds 2-4 mm. 2n = 22, 33" (Adams 1993).
Distribution and Ecology
Canada: Ontario and Québec; USA: all states E from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota; at 0-1400 m in woods, old fields, glades, fencerows, and river swamps (Adams 1993).
Remarkable Specimens
American Forests (1996) record two "champion" trees. One in Lone Hill Church cemetery, Coffee County, Georgia (USA) has diameter 171 cm, height 17 m, and crown spread 21 m. A 2018 remeasurement found it to be 203 cm dbh and 17.1 m tall with a 26.8 m crown spread. The other "champion", in Coleman cemetery, Angelina National Forest, Texas, has diameter 148 cm, height 27 m, and crown spread 14 m.
The oldest known specimen, 939 years, is documented in a tree-ring chronology covering the period 481-1998 (fully crossdated), collected near Franklin, West Virginia by Ed Cook and colleagues (doi.org/10.25921/eh24-yv61). The 939-year lifespan was shown in one sample that ended in 1419, presumably a dead tree, as were most of the samples in this chronology. Also, a tree with a crossdated age of 795 years, specimen LTD95A, was collected near Leatherwood Creek, Missouri by D.W. Stahle, R. Guyette, M.D. Therrell and M.K. Cleaveland as part of the Ancient Cross Timbers Project (doi.org/10.25921/fs4s-pk40). The data series for this tree ends in 1979, but it was collected in 1991, so I presume it was dead at the time. The oldest living tree recorded appears to be 664 years, crossdated for the 1344-2007 period, documented in a tree-ring chronology collected in Smokehole Canyon, West Virginia by R. S. Maxwell and colleagues (doi.org/10.25921/1s3n-pn59). Besides these, a number of trees over 500 years old have been found in the Kansas-Oklahoma-Texas area in the course of the Ancient Cross Timbers Project (1999), which performed ecological, historical/archeological and climatic studies using dendrochronological methods applied to this species and (primarily) the post oak, Quercus stellata.
Ethnobotany
The wood is used for production of eastern redcedarwood oil, fenceposts, and cedar chests (Adams 1993).
Observations
Remarks
Citations
Adams, Robert P. 1993. Juniperus. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds.): Flora of North America North of Mexico, Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. This document is available online. Go to http://www.efloras.org, click on "Flora of North America," and search for "Juniperus."
American Forests 1996. The 1996-1997 National Register of Big Trees. Washington, DC: American Forests.
Ancient Cross Timbers Project, https://xtimbers.uark.edu/, accessed 2019.03.01.
See also
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