<h1> So, the other day, I posted part of a piece I've been working on for my blog- http://www.ofsedgeandsalt.com where I have been doing extensive plant profiles every month since last fall. </h1>
<h2> Now, I wanted to share with ya'll a more focused section of the piece on Eastern Red Cedar, a species in the Juniperus genus. Folks from the midwestern U.S. and the Southeastern U.S. might be familiar with this species. </h2>
And again, it has not been posted to my website yet, am I am still working on it, so I can't link to the original.
Juniperus virginiana, or otherwise known by its common name Eastern Red Cedar is the familiar species of my upbringing. It is a fairly common tree of the Southeast (less so in the mountains), Midwest and Great Plains regions of the the U.S. where it can grow on a wide variety of soils. It is more abundant than 200 years ago. This is partially because of fire suppression as this tree is highly susceptible to fire. It thrives when fire does not come through, dominating the ecology of an area and sometimes overtaking other species, or preventing others from growing, which is one reason why culturally it is deemed a ‘weed tree’ in the South when it is actually a native species. This association with the tree being ‘weedy’ is also because it grows up as a pioneer species in disturbed agricultural fields that have been left a bit to abandon, seeming to ‘overtake’ attempts to cultivate and control fields for crops or livestock. This is also why it is more abundant than 200 years ago: high rates of disturbed soil in its range and fire suppression have increased the amount of places it thrives, and gives it an upper hand over more sensitive plants that would otherwise come up instead. It can grow a long time, an unusual thing for a pioneer species. I have seen it in full deciduous and mixed deciduous/Pine/Holly forests as well as in open fields. In the forest, it seems to have less lower branches and a different kind of growth pattern. Some say these are a different subspecies, but I am not certain. The trees that come up in fields have such low and dense branches that you can barely even see the tree’s trunk sometimes. Older trees can have pretty big and thick trunks. Some of these trees have growth rings that are darn close together, making them strong and durable for making fence posts (not to mention it’s rot-resistance) and Cedar chests.
It has been loved and hated. Like many other Juniper species, this plant was(is) used by the native inhabitants of the regions where it grows for food, shelter, and medicine. In the Southeast U.S., where I am most familiar, it was not a tree that most folks wanted around especially during the days of early European colonization due to it’s ability to infect precious fruit trees in the Rose family with the ‘Cedar Apple Rust’ fungus. This pathogen is hosted on Junipers, and spreads easily to Apple trees, some Hawthorns and other plants. It can spread to Apple fruit, flowers and leaves, and inhibit the ability for the tree to thrive or for the fruit to mature properly. My dad made the mistake of planting old heirloom varieties of Apple trees on his homestead in southern Virginia more adapted for the mountain weather and not the Piedmont- and where Eastern Red Cedar is less likely to grow. There are resistant strains of Apple out there and treatments that can stop the reproductive cycle of the Cedar-Apple Rust which unfortunately usually include the use of fungicide applications. The old way was to remove as many Eastern Red Cedars as possible. To the point even that the tree was vilified, coincidently too at a time when native folks who saw the tree as sacred and useful were being displaced.
(Cedar Rust Fungus)
This tree was seen as a threat to the survival of colonizers, as the Apple orchard was seen as the crux of survival off the land, at least historically for the making of hard cider to drink daily. After reading the Apple overview in book ‘The Botany of Desire’ by Michael Pollan, I have a better understanding of this early settler homesteading'-survival mentality and what it meant at one point in time.
Still, Eastern Red Cedar persisted. The tree is not having any problems reproducing or thriving. It isn’t as common in the Appalachian mountains where the conditions aren’t as ideal for it. I do remember that we had a few at Dancing Springs Farm where I lived for several years outside of Asheville, NC. They were only located on top of a knoll on the land with the driest and poorest soil, as the best soil has drifted down towards the river bottom, where we gardened. It has the potential to replace grasslands when fire isn’t allowed to come through, as it will eventually outcompete important native grasses.
To step back again in lens to the plant family, I wanted to make a few notes on some of Eastern Red Cedar’s Cypress family neighbors and kin. Atlantic White Cedar, Chamaecyparis thyoides can be found from Maine to North Carolina and the Florida panhandle, sticking closer to the coast and in wet freshwater areas. Ironically, this tree’s populations are in decline due to fire suppression and is even rare in some areas of it’s traditional range. I am fascinated by this tree and would like to learn more about it. My friend Dave works for the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the coast of North Carolina and monitors the populations of these trees (FYI, Red Wolves are also present there). Another kin is the aforementioned elegant Swamp/Bald Cypress that hugs wetter areas, Taxodium distichum. This is another beautiful and fascinating tree that used to grow in large ancient forests. Some of the oldest trees that still exist of this species can be found in eastern North Carolina swamps. For some reason tourists like to buy the cut off Cypress ‘knees’ that stick out of muck and water.
The Eastern Red Cedars that grow on the coast look at bit different. I’ve seen them on Cape Hatteras intermingling with coastal Greenbriar (Smilax sp.), Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia), Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana) and more. These Eastern Red Cedars are different enough that they are given subspecies status Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola and often is called ‘Sand Cedar.’ They are beautiful and gnarled from wind and salt spray like what is familiar of Juniper growth habits in the southwest. In the southeast there’s also low growing and uncommon Juniperus communis var. depressa (Spira).
Eastern Red Cedar berries are loved by birds, including Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, and European Starlings (Spira 241). This past weekend on a plant walk with Luke Learningdeer, a teacher of mine over the years- he told a story from a sit spot where he watched birds start at the top of a Eastern Red Cedar and work their way down eating every berry. When it got dark, they flew away, leaving all of the lower branches still full. They came back the next day to finish eating the rest.
Generally Junipers are dioecious (separate male and female plants) but occasionally they veer from this binary (like everything in nature is actually non-binary). You’ll often see a field of trees with no berries, and sometimes filled with berries. This could be due to many factors, and the appetite of currently residing birds is just one of those variable.
As you move west or north from the east coast of Turtle Island, the Juniperus species that you find change and morph. You’ll find Juniperus ashei, Juniperus scopulorum, different versions of Juniperus communis and Juniper utahensis, among others. Of course, they hybridize where overlapping like many plants with such variability do. My knowledge of these species varies, and I have the most experience hanging out with Juniper utahensis from spending time in the Great Basin Desert.
