Juniperus virginiana
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| Juniperus virginiana Conservation status: Secure | ||||||||||||||
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| Missing image Juniper_berries_q.jpg Eastern Juniper foliage and mature cones | ||||||||||||||
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Juniperus virginiana is a widespread North American species of juniper, known as Eastern Juniper or Eastern Redcedar (though it is unrelated to the cedars); the Lakota Native American name is Chansha, "redwood" or Hante'. It is found from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, east of the Great Plains. Further west, it is replaced by the related Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain Juniper).
Eastern Juniper is a dense slow-growing tree that may never become more than a bush on poor soil but is ordinarily from 5-18 m tall, rarely 25 m, with a short trunk from 30-60 cm (1-2 feet) in diameter, rarely 120 cm (4 feet) diameter. The largest trees, on bottomlands in southeastern states of the USA, can be 300 years old. The bark is reddish-brown, fibrous, and peels off in narrow strips. The leaves are of two types; sharp, spreading needle-like juvenile leaves 5-10 mm long, and tightly adpressed scale-like adult leaves 2-4 mm long. The juvenile leaves are found on young plants up to 1-3 years old, and as scattered shoots on adult trees, usually in shade. The cones are 3-7 mm long, berry-like with fleshy scales, dark purple-blue with a white wax cover giving an overall sky-blue color (though the wax often rubs off); they are mature in 6-8 months. They furnish winter food for many birds, which disperse the wingless seeds. This species is a host for Apple rust disease.
The Eastern Juniper is a pioneer invader, which means that it is one of the first trees to repopulate cleared, eroded, or otherwise damaged land. The tree can often be found along highways and near recent construction sites.
There are two subspecies, which intergrade where they meet:
- Juniperus virginiana subsp. virginiana. Eastern Juniper / Redcedar. 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 larger, 4-7 mm; scale leaves acute at apex; bark red-brown.
- Juniperus virginiana subsp. silicicola. Southern or Sand Juniper / Redcedar. Along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from North Carolina south to central Florida and west to southeast Texas. Cones smaller, 3-4 mm; scale leaves blunt at apex; bark orange-brown. It is treated by some authors at the lower rank of variety, while others treat it as a distinct species.
Uses
The fine-grained, soft brittle pinkish red to brownish red wood, surrounded by a thin layer of white sapwood, is fragrant, very light and very durable in soil. Because the wood is naturally resistant to rot and is avoided by moths, it is in demand for pencils, cigar boxes, fence posts, poles, woodenware, canoes, and lining for clothes chests and closets. Juniper oil is distilled from the wood, twigs and leaves. The cones are used to flavor gin and as a kidney medicine.
Native American tribes used juniper wood poles to mark out agreed tribal hunting territories. French traders named Baton Rouge, Louisiana (meaning "red stick") from the reddish color of these poles.
During to the dust bowl drought in the 1930s, the Prairie States Forest Project encouraged farmers to plant shelterbelts (wind breaks) made of Eastern Juniper throughout the Great Plains. They are still planted for this purpose.
External links
- Ohio Department of Natural Resources (http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/forestry/Education/ohiotrees/cedar.htm)
- US Department of Transportation - Dust Bowl Lessons (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/greenerroadsides/sum00_2.htm)