TREES GROWING IN DRY SOIL. 



299 



RED CEDAR. SAVIN. {Plate CLXIV.) 

 Juniperus Virginiana. 



Bark : reddish brown, and separating into long shreds. Inner bark: smooth ; 

 polished. Leaves ; minute; dull green ; simple ; opposite in pairs ; ovate ; over- 

 lapping each other, and growing in four rows on the rather square, fine branch- 

 lets; stiff; sharp. When young the leaves spread out somewhat from the 

 branches, which are then more rounded, and are needle-shaped. When pulled 

 away from the branch it can be seen that they grow in pairs, or sometimes threes. 

 Berries: small; bluish grey ; growing erectly and closely along the branchlets. 



From the coloured plate something of the beauty of the pistil- 

 late cedar tree may be gathered when its olive-green foliage is 

 alive with the brightness of its 

 Derries. The staminate trees are 

 of a rather rusty brown tone, and 

 although they are not generally 

 regarded as attractive, there are 

 many that delight in their unsym- 

 metrical and rather weird style 

 of growth. The tree, as Juni- 

 perus communis, is more widely 

 distributed than any other con- 

 iferous one of North America. 

 Its versatility and knack of adapt- 

 ing itself to various conditions 

 of climate and soil are truly 

 wonderful. From a low bush it 

 ranges in size to a great tree with 



a fine, straight trunk, and it is either pyramidal or rounded. 

 Throughout New England and New Brunswick it favours dry 

 soil ; in the valleys of Pennsylvania it seeks that which is 

 alluvial. On the limestone hills of Kentucky and Tennessee 

 are the "cedar brakes"; while in Florida the tree grows to 

 a great size in swamps and in bottom lands. Throughout the 



Juniperus Virginiana. 



