Red cedar tree is known for its hardy nature and ability to grow on a wide variety of soil types and under harsh climatic conditions, such as drought and extreme temperatures. It develops a brownish tint in winter in the north and is sometimes used in windbreaks or screens.
While this tree is very tolerant of poor soil, it requires needs full sun. Its fragrant, scale-like foliage varies in color from gray-green to blue-green to light or dark green.
The fruit is a blue berry on female trees and is ornamental when produced in quantity. Birds devour the fruit and ‘plant’ it along farm fences and in old abandoned fields.
The silver-gray cones (fleshy coverings on seeds often referred to as juniper “berries) on females are quite attractive in the fall and winter. Male plants can be distinguished from female plants in the late winter because male cones (which bear pollen) are brown and are borne at branch tips giving male plants an overall brownish appearance in late winter.
The tree is a conifer native to North America that has been used for a variety of wood products, and its planting has been encouraged to help stabilize soil, reforest abandoned farmland, and provide cover for wildlife.
Eastern red cedar tree
