Juniperus virginiana

{{Short description|Species of conifer tree}} {{Speciesbox | image = 2014-05-13 08 32 55 Eastern Red Cedar at South Riding Golf Club in South Riding, Virginia.JPG | image_caption = ''Juniperus virginiana'' on a golf course in northern Virginia | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Farjon, A. |date=2013 |title=''Juniperus virginiana'' |volume=2013 |article-number=e.T42257A2967510 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T42257A2967510.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | status2 = {{TNCStatus}} | status2_system = TNC | genus = Juniperus | parent = Juniperus sect. Sabina | species = virginiana | authority = L. | range_map = Juniperus virginiana vars range map 3.png | range_map_caption = Natural distribution of varieties: {{color|green|''J. virginiana'' var. ''virginiana'' (green)}} and {{color|red|''J. virginiana'' var. ''silicicola'' (red)}} }}

'''''Juniperus virginiana''''', also known as '''eastern red cedar''',<ref name=fna>{{eFloras|1 |family=Cupressaceae |first=Robert P. |last=Adams}}</ref><ref name=PLANTS>{{PLANTS |id=JUVI |taxon=Juniperus virginiana |access-date=22 January 2016}}</ref> '''red cedar''', '''Virginian juniper''',<ref name=BSBI07>{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17}}</ref> '''eastern juniper''', '''red juniper''', and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and east of the Great Plains.<ref name=PLANTS /> Farther west it is replaced by the related ''Juniperus scopulorum'' (Rocky Mountain juniper) and to the southwest by ''Juniperus ashei'' (Ashe juniper).<ref name=farjon>Farjon, A. (2005). ''Monograph of Cupressaceae and Sciadopitys''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. {{ISBN|1-84246-068-4}}</ref><ref name=gd>{{Gymnosperm Database |family=Cupressaceae |genus=Juniperus |species=virginiana}}</ref><ref name=adams>Adams, R. P. (2004). ''Junipers of the World''. Trafford. {{ISBN|1-4120-4250-X}}</ref> It is not to be confused with ''Thuja occidentalis'' (eastern white cedar).

== Description == thumb|''Juniperus virginiana'' foliage and mature cones

''Juniperus virginiana'' is a dense slow-growing coniferous evergreen tree with a conical or subcylindrical shaped crown<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dignard |first1=Norman |last2=Petitclerc |first2=Pierre |last3=Bastien |first3=Denis |last4=Turcotte |first4=Audrey |last5=Morneau |first5=Claude |title=Petite flore forestière du Québec |publisher=Les publications du Québec |year=2023 |isbn=978-2-551-26997-6 |edition=3rd |page=38 |language=fr}}</ref> that may never become more than a bush on poor soil, but is ordinarily from {{convert|5|-|20|m|abbr=off}} tall, with a short trunk {{convert|30|-|100|cm|abbr=off}} in diameter, rarely to {{convert|27|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height and {{convert|170|cm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter. The oldest tree reported, from West Virginia, was 940 years old.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~adk/oldlisteast/Spp/JUVI.html|website=Eastern OLDLIST|access-date=13 December 2015|title=Juniperus virginiana}}</ref> The bark is reddish-brown, fibrous, and peels off in narrow strips. The leaves are of two types; sharp, spreading needle-like juvenile leaves {{convert|5|-|10|mm|frac=16|abbr=}} long, and tightly adpressed scale-like adult leaves {{convert|2|-|4|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} long; they are arranged in opposite decussate pairs or occasionally whorls of three. The juvenile leaves are found on young plants up to 3 years old, and as scattered shoots on adult trees, usually in shade. The seed cones are {{convert|3|-|7|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} long, berry-like, dark purple-blue with a white wax cover giving an overall sky-blue color (though the wax often rubs off); they contain one to three (rarely up to four) seeds, and are mature in 6–8 months from pollination. The juniper berry is an important winter food for many birds, which disperse the wingless seeds. The pollen cones are {{convert|2|-|3|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1.5|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}} broad, shedding pollen in late winter or early spring. The trees are usually dioecious, with pollen and seed cones on separate trees,<ref name=farjon /><ref name=gd /><ref name=adams /> yet some are monoecious. thumb|Eastern red cedar (''Juniperus virginiana'') There are two varieties,<ref name=fna /> which intergrade where they meet:<ref name=farjon /><ref name=gd /><ref name=adams /> * ''Juniperus virginiana'' var. ''virginiana'' is called eastern red cedar / juniper. It is found in eastern North America, from Maine, west to southern Ontario and South Dakota, south to northernmost Florida and southwest into the post oak savannah of east-central Texas. Cones are larger, {{convert|4|–|7|mm|frac=16|abbr=on}}; scale leaves are acute at apex and bark is red-brown. * ''Juniperus virginiana'' var. ''silicicola'' (Small) E.Murray (syn. ''Sabina silicicola'' Small, ''Juniperus silicicola'' [Small] L.H.Bailey<ref name="Cooper">{{cite report|last1=Cooper|first1=Jason A.|last2=Becker|first2=Charles W.|url=http://www.dof.virginia.gov/infopubs/_outside-pubs/USDA-FS-SRS-155_outpub.pdf|title=Virginia's Timber Industry — An Assessment of Timber Product Output and Use, 2007|work=Virginia Department of Forestry|publisher=Southern Research Station, United States Forest Service |date=July 2009|access-date=4 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202101446/http://www.dof.virginia.gov/infopubs/_outside-pubs/USDA-FS-SRS-155_outpub.pdf|archive-date=2021-02-02}}</ref>) is known as southern<ref name="Cooper"/> or sand red cedar / juniper. Its variety name means "flint-dweller", from Latin {{wikt-lang|la|silex}} and {{wikt-lang|la|-cola}}. Habitat is along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from the extreme southeastern corner of Virginia, south to central Florida and west to southeast Texas. Cones are smaller, {{convert|3|–|4|mm|frac=16|abbr=on}}; scale leaves are blunt at apex and the bark is orange-brown. It is treated by some authors at the lower rank of variety, while others treat it as a distinct species.

== Ecology == thumb|Characteristic shape in old field succession

Eastern red cedar is a pioneer species, meaning that it is one of the first trees to repopulate disturbed sites. It is unusually long lived among pioneer species, with the potential to live over 900 years. It is commonly found in prairies or oak barrens, old pastures, or limestone hills, often along highways and near recent construction sites.<ref name=farjon /><ref name=gd /><ref name="NW-Barlow" /> It is an alternate host for cedar–apple rust, an economically significant fungal disease of apples, and some management strategies recommend the removal of ''J. virginiana'' near apple orchards<ref name=wvu>{{cite web|last1=Yoder|first1=K.S.|last2=Biggs|first2=A.R.|work=West Virginia University|url=http://www.caf.wvu.edu/kearneysville/disease_descriptions/omcar.html| title= Cedar-Apple Rust, ''Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae''|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112160016/http://www.caf.wvu.edu/kearneysville/disease_descriptions/omcar.html |archive-date=2007-11-12}}</ref>

Eastern red cedar grows in a wide range of climatic and soil conditions. The tree is extremely tolerant of drought due to its extensive, fibrous root system and reduced leaf area. It can be found from droughty, rocky soils with few nutrients to rich alluvial soils with abundant moisture. However, eastern red cedar is almost never dominant on such rich mesic sites due to intense competition with faster growing, more shade tolerant hardwood trees.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Species: Juniperus virginiana |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/junvir/all.html#BOTANICAL%20AND%20ECOLOGICAL%20CHARACTERISTICS |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=www.fs.usda.gov}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Juniperus virginiana L |url=https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_1/juniperus/virginiana.htm |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=www.srs.fs.usda.gov}}</ref>

Outside of its native range it is considered an invasive species, and it can be aggressive even within its range. It is fire-intolerant, and was previously controlled by periodic wildfires. Low branches near the ground burn and provide a ladder that allows fire to engulf the whole tree. Grasses recover quickly from low severity fires that are characteristic of prairies that kept the trees at bay. With the urbanization of prairies, the fires have been stopped with roads, plowed fields, and other fire breaks, allowing ''J. virginiana'' and other trees to invade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain/projects/forest_plan/86_plan/Appendix_E.pdf|title=Forest Plan|website=fs.fed.us}}</ref> Trees are destructive to grasslands if left unchecked, and are actively being eliminated by cutting and prescribed burning.<ref>{{cite news|work=Noble Research Institute|url=https://www.noble.org/news/releases/oklahoma-must-address-cedar-encroachment/|title=Oklahoma Must Address Cedar Encroachment|location=Ardmore, OK}}</ref> The trees also burn very readily, and dense populations were blamed for the rapid spread of wildfires in drought stricken Oklahoma and Texas in 2005 and 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/01/bn.02.html|title=Wildfires Rip Through Oklahoma|agency=CNN|date=January 1, 2006|access-date=April 11, 2007}}</ref> On the Great Plains, expanding red cedar populations are altering the plains ecosystem: a majority of the region's bird species are not present in areas where the tree's land cover exceeds 10 percent, and most small mammal species are not present where land cover exceeds 30 percent.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vaughan |first=Carson |date=2023-12-07 |title=Opinion {{!}} A 'Green Glacier' Is Dismantling the Great Plains |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/07/opinion/prairie-great-plains-trees.html |access-date=2024-02-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Eastern red cedar benefits from increased CO2 levels, unlike the grasses with which it competes. Many grasses are C4 plants that concentrate CO2 levels in their bundle sheaths to increase the efficiency of RuBisCO, the enzyme responsible for photosynthesis, while junipers are C3 plants that rely on (and may benefit from) the natural CO2 concentrations of the environment, although they are less efficient at fixing CO2 in general.<ref name="McKinley">{{cite journal |last1=McKinley |first1=Duncan C. |last2=Blair |first2=John M. |title=Woody Plant Encroachment by Juniperus virginiana in a Mesic Native Grassland Promotes Rapid Carbon and Nitrogen Accrual |journal=Ecosystems |date=1 April 2008 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=454–468 |doi=10.1007/s10021-008-9133-4 |bibcode=2008Ecosy..11..454M |s2cid=23911766 }}</ref>

Alterations of prairie ecosystems by ''J. virginiana'' include outcompeting forage species in pastureland. The low branches and wide base occupy a significant portion of land area. The thick foliage blocks out most light, so few plants can live under the canopy. The needles that fall raise the pH of the soil, making it alkaline, which holds nutrients such as phosphorus, making it harder for plants to absorb them.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bekele |first1=Asfaw |last2=Hudnall |first2=Wayne. H. |title=Response of soil δ15N and nutrients to eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) encroachment into a relict calcareous prairie |journal=Plant and Soil |date=1 April 2005 |volume=271 |issue=1 |pages=143–155 |doi=10.1007/s11104-004-2297-6 |bibcode=2005PlSoi.271..143B |s2cid=37204504 }}</ref> However, studies have found that ''Juniperus virginiana'' forests that replace grasslands have a statistically insignificant decrease<ref name="Norris">{{cite journal |last1=Norris |first1=Mark D. |last2=Blair |first2=John M. |last3=Johnson |first3=Loretta C. |title=Altered Ecosystem Nitrogen Dynamics as a Consequence of Land Cover Change in Tallgrass Prairie |journal=The American Midland Naturalist |date=October 2007 |volume=158 |issue=2 |pages=432–445 |doi=10.1674/0003-0031(2007)158[432:AENDAA]2.0.CO;2 |hdl=20.500.12648/2288 |s2cid=55258892 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> to a significant increase<ref name="McKinley"/> in levels of soil nitrogen. ''J. virginiana'' forests have higher overall nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), despite the common grassland species ''Andropogon gerardi'' having a far higher NUE during photosynthesis (PNUE).<ref name="McKinley"/> The forests store much greater amounts of carbon in both biomass and soil, with most of the additional carbon stored aboveground. There is no significant difference in soil microbial activity.<ref name="McKinley"/>

Cedar waxwings are fond of red cedar berries. It takes about 12 minutes for their seeds to pass through the birds' guts, and seeds that have been consumed by this bird have levels of germination roughly three times higher than those of seeds the birds did not eat. Many other birds such as turkeys and bluebirds, along with many mammals such as rabbits, foxes, raccoons, and coyotes also consume them.<ref name="NW-Barlow">{{cite journal|last=Barlow|first=Virginia|date=Winter 2004|title=Species in the Spotlight: Eastern Redcedar, ''Juniperus virginiana''|journal=Northern Woodlands|volume=11|issue=43|page=37|publisher=Center for Northern Woodlands Education|url=http://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/eastern_redcedar_juniperus_virginiana/|access-date=July 29, 2009}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Virginia juniper's compact, evergreen foliage makes it favorable for bird nests and as a winter shelter location for birds and mammals.<ref name=":0" />

== Pollen == thumb|right|Male cone where pollen is produced The pollen of ''Juniperus virginiana'' var. ''virginiana'' is a known allergen. The nominate variety is native to Eastern North America, north of Mexico, with the pollen releasing at various points in the spring, variable by latitude and elevation.<ref name="pollenlib">{{cite web|title=Eastern Red-Cedar Species Description|publisher=Pollen Library|url=http://www.pollenlibrary.com/Specie/Juniperus%20virginiana/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101105947/http://www.pollenlibrary.com/Specie/Juniperus%20virginiana/ |archive-date=1 Nov 2019|access-date=4 April 2022 }}</ref>

== Uses == [[File:Eastern Redcedar Juniperus virginiana 'Corcorcor' Berries 1800px.jpg|thumb|right|"Berries" of the 'Corcorcor' cultivar]]

The fragrant, finely grained, soft, brittle, very light, pinkish to brownish red heartwood is very durable, even in contact with soil. Because of its resistance to decay, the wood is often used for fence posts. Moths avoid the aromatic wood, and therefore it is in demand as lining for clothes chests and closets, which are often denominated "cedar closets" and "cedar chests". If correctly prepared, excellent English longbows, flatbows, and Native American sinew-backed bows can be made from it. It is marketed as "eastern red cedar" and "aromatic cedar". The best portions of the heartwood are one of the few woods that are suitable for making pencils, however the supply had so diminished by the 1940s that the wood of the incense-cedar largely replaced it.<ref name="NW-Barlow" />

[[File:JuniperLogs.jpg|thumb|A log sawn in two and turned on a lathe, exposing the pale sapwood and the reddish heartwood]]

Part of the commercially available cedar oil is produced by steam distillation from wood shavings. It contains a wide variety of terpenes. The three major components, alpha-cedrene, thujopsene and cedrol, constitute more than 60% of the essential oil.<ref name="Adams_1991"> {{cite book| last1=Adams| first1=R. P.| title=Essential Oils and Waxes| chapter=Cedar Wood Oil — Analyses and Properties| series=Modern Methods of Plant Analysis|volume=12| year=1991| pages=159–173| doi=10.1007/978-3-642-84023-4_8| isbn=978-3-642-84025-8}}</ref><ref name="Adams_1987">{{cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=Robert P. |title=Investigation of Juniperus species of the United States for new Sources of Cedarwood Oil |journal=Economic Botany |date=January 1987 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=48–54 |doi=10.1007/BF02859346 |bibcode=1987EcBot..41...48A |s2cid=39335597 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Kai |last2=Yao |first2=Lei |title=The anxiolytic effect of Juniperus virginiana L. essential oil and determination of its active constituents |journal=Physiology & Behavior |date=May 2018 |volume=189 |pages=50–58 |doi=10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.01.004 |pmid=29326032 |s2cid=4620958 }}</ref> The fruits also yield an essential oil which contains mostly D-Limonene.<ref name="SamoylenkoDunbar2008">{{cite journal |last1=Samoylenko |first1=Volodymyr |last2=Dunbar |first2=D. Chuck |last3=Gafur |first3=Md. Abdul |last4=Khan |first4=Shabana I. |last5=Ross |first5=Samir A. |last6=Mossa |first6=Jaber S. |last7=El-Feraly |first7=Farouk S. |last8=Tekwani |first8=Babu L. |last9=Bosselaers |first9=Jan |last10=Muhammad |first10=Ilias |title=Antiparasitic, nematicidal and antifouling constituents from Juniperus berries |journal=Phytotherapy Research |date=December 2008 |volume=22 |issue=12 |pages=1570–1576 |doi=10.1002/ptr.2460 |pmid=19067375 |s2cid=10379153 }}</ref>

The oil derived from foliage and twigs has two main constituents: safrole and limonene.<ref name="GawdeCantrell2009">{{cite journal |last1=Gawde |first1=Archana J. |last2=Cantrell |first2=Charles L. |last3=Zheljazkov |first3=Valtcho D. |title=Dual extraction of essential oil and podophyllotoxin from Juniperus virginiana |journal=Industrial Crops and Products |date=September 2009 |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=276–280 |doi=10.1016/j.indcrop.2009.05.005 }}</ref> One minor compound is the podophyllotoxin, a non-alkaloid toxin lignan.<ref name="Podo_2003">{{cite journal |last1=Cushman |first1=Kent E. |last2=Maqbool |first2=Muhammad |last3=Gerard |first3=Patrick D. |last4=Bedir |first4=Ebru |last5=Lata |first5=Hemant |last6=Moraes |first6=Rita M. |title=Variation of Podophyllotoxin in Leaves of Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) |journal=Planta Medica |date=May 2003 |volume=69 |issue=5 |pages=477–478 |doi=10.1055/s-2003-39707 |pmid=12802737 |bibcode=2003PlMed..69..477. }}</ref>

Native American tribes have historically used poles of eastern red cedar wood to demarcate agreed tribal hunting territories. French traders named Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which denotes "red stick", from the reddish color of these poles. Some nations continue to use it ceremonially.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

The Cahokia Woodhenge series of timber circles that the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture in western Illinois erected were constructed of massive logs of eastern juniper. One iteration of such a circle, ''Woodhenge III'', which is thought to have been constructed circa 1000 AD, had 48 posts in the circle of {{convert|410|ft|m}} in diameter and a 49th pole in the center.<ref name=ISEMINGER>{{cite web| title= The Skywatchers of Cahokia | author= Iseminger, William R. | url= http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home/skywatchers-of-cahokia | publisher= Mexicolore | access-date= 2017-12-19 }}</ref>

Among many Native American cultures, the smoke of burning eastern red cedar is believed to expel evil spirits prior to conducting a ceremony, such as a healing ceremony.<ref name=Lyon>{{cite book|last=Lyon|first=William S.|title=Encyclopedia of Native American Healing |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.|year=1998|isbn=0-393-31735-8|page=173}}</ref>

During the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s, the Prairie States Forest Project encouraged farmers to plant shelterbelts, i.e. wind breaks, of eastern red cedar throughout the Great Plains of the US. The trees thrive in adverse conditions. Tolerant of both drought and cold, they grow well in rocky, sandy, and clayey soils. Competition between individual trees is minimal, and therefore they can be closely planted in rows, in which situation they still grow to full height, creating a solid windbreak in a short time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/JUNVIRA.pdf|title=USDA Fact Sheet|website=ufl.edu}}</ref>

A number of cultivars have been selected for horticulture, including 'Canaertii' (narrow conical; female) 'Corcorcor' (with a dense, erect crown; female), 'Goldspire' (narrow conical with yellow foliage), and 'Kobold' (dwarf). Some cultivars previously listed under this species, notably 'Skyrocket', are actually cultivars of ''J. scopulorum''.<ref>Welch, H., & Haddow, G. (1993). ''The World Checklist of Conifers''. Landsman's. {{ISBN|0-900513-09-8}}.{{pn|date=September 2021}}</ref>

In the Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma Ozarks, eastern red cedar is commonly used as a Christmas tree.

This is the most widely used wood for making blocks for recorders. There are numerous properties that it possesses that make it uniquely suitable for this, such as good moisture absorption, low expansion when wet (so it does not crack the recorder head), and mild antiseptic properties.

Eastern red cedar is considered effective as a shelter-belt tree and for erosion control. Being coniferous, red cedar has dense evergreen foliage which makes it an ideal windbreak. The tree's extensive root system allows it to survive drought, and helps to retain surrounding topsoil during dry, windy conditions.<ref name=":0" />

== See also == * Cedar wood * Eastern white cedar

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Silvics |volume=1 |genus=Juniperus |species=virginiana |first=Edwin R. |last=Lawson }} * [http://www.plantmaps.com/nrm/juniperus-virginiana-eastern-redcedar-native-range-map.php Interactive Distribution Map of ''Juniperus virginiana''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807002020/http://www.plantmaps.com/nrm/juniperus-virginiana-eastern-redcedar-native-range-map.php |date=2010-08-07 }}

virginiana Category:Dioecious plants Category:Flora of the North-Central United States Category:Flora of the Northeastern United States Category:Flora of the Southeastern United States Category:Flora of Coahuila Category:Flora of Ontario Category:Flora of Quebec Category:Flora of Texas Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Plants used in bonsai Category:Trees of Northern America Category:Trees of temperate climates