Eastern Redcedar/Juniper

Description

Conical eastern red cedar in open field of tree farm or plant nursery.

This consists of 35 to 50 species distributed in North America (10), Africa (2), Asia (6) and Europe (6). All species look alike microscopically.

Eastern Redcedar, native to the eastern half of the United States, has the widest distribution of any other conifer in the eastern United States. It is a pioneer species, being one of the first trees to invade disturbed areas. Although it grows very slowly, Eastern Redcedar can reach heights of 120 ft (36.58 m) and diameters of 4 ft (1.22 m).

The wood of Juniperus virginiana (Eastern Redcedar) has a variegated appearance with bands of light colored or white sapwood alternating with the reddish brown heartwood, with a number of tight knots adding to the grain. It, like other softwoods, has a texture or feel that is smooth with a grain that is even and straight. It is neither a strong nor sturdy wood, but dries well without warping and is also easy to glue, nail, and rive. The heartwood is extremely resistant to degradation in the ground over long periods of time, exposed to moisture, insects and fungi. Its uses include carvings, cedrol oil (oil of Cedar), “cedar” chests, Christmas trees, linings of closets and drawers of case furniture, fence posts, floors, country style furniture, household items, pencils, pet (hamster) bedding, scientific instrument cases, small boats and wardrobes.

small eastern red cedar branch illustrating arrangement of evergreen needles and small cones.

Other Common Names

Other common names include alligator-tree, alligatorwood, ambarwood, american mahogany, blisted, delta redgum, figured gum, gum, gumtree, gumwood, hazel, hazel pine, hazelwood, incense-tree, liquidambar, mulberry, opossum-tree, plain redgum, quartered redgum, redgum, sapgum, sapwood hazel pine, satin walnut, satinwood, splint sapgum, splinted sapgum, starleaf gum, sycamore gum, whitegum.

Comparison to Other Softwoods

Key to Softwoods

Tech Sheet

https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/eastern-redcedar

Characteristics

Characteristics found in the Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana):

Ray Tracheids Absent & Ray Parenchyma Nodular

  • Axial parenchyma with nodular end walls
  • Ray parenchyma with smooth to nodular end walls (many with 1-2 knobs/wall)
  • Indenture distinct

Slides (Click on each image to view a larger image)

WOOD SLIDES

Microscope slide of transverse section of Eastern Red Cedar wood (Juniperus virginiana) identifying the location of the growth ring boundary and presence of axial parenchyma.
Microscope slide of transverse section of Easter Red Cedar wood at increased magnification identifying growth ring boundary, earlywood parenchyma cells, and latewood parenchyma cells.
Microscope slide of uncarbonized transverse section of Easter Red Cedar wood. Arrows point to the anatomical elements of Axial tracheids and parenchyma Sections of parenchyma are delineated by rays.
Microscope slide. Unknown magnification. Uncarbonized radial section of Eastern Red Cedar wood. Arrows identify the location of rays and axial tracheids.
Microscope slide. Unknown magnification. Uncarbonized radial section of Eastern Red Cedar wood. Arrows identify the location of the smooth end wall and a nodule end wall.
Microscope slide. Unknown magnification. Uncarbonized tangential section of Eastern Red Cedar wood. Arrows identify the location of rays and axial parenchyma.
Microscope slide. Unknown magnification. Uncarbonized tangential section of Eastern Red Cedar wood. Arrows identify the location of rays and axial tracheids.

CHARCOAL SLIDES

Magnified non-carbonized tangential section of Eastern Red Cedar wood depicting a branch remnant on the surface. The branch trace is an oval opening in the wood grain with a central circular scar.
Microscope slide. Unknown magnification. Carbonized tangential section of Eastern Red Cedar wood with arrow identifying uniseriate rays.
Microscope slide. Unknown magnification. Carbonized radial section of Eastern Red Cedar wood. Arrows identify the location of rays and axial tracheids.
Microscope slide. Unknown magnification. Carbonized radial section of Eastern Red Cedar wood. Increased magnification of arrangement of axial tracheids running parallel to sections of rays.
Microscope slide. Microscope slide. Unknown magnification. Carbonized transverse section of Eastern Red Cedar wood. Arrows identify oval voids caused by thermal decay, rays, and growth ring boundaries.
Microscope slide. Microscope slide. Unknown magnification. Carbonized transverse section of Eastern Red Cedar wood. Increased magnification. Arrows identify rays and the growth ring boundary.