380 



KEW EXGLAXD TREES IX WINTER. 



RED CEDAR 

 Savin, Cedar, Red Juniper. 



Juniperus virginiana L. 



HAHIT — A medium sized tree 25-40 ft. in heig-ht witli trunk diameter 

 of h--0 inclies. much larger in the southern states: trunk more or less 

 ridg"ed and buttressed at base, with slender branches horizontal below 

 erect above, forming- in young' trees a narroT\^ conical head, becoming' 

 in old ag-e wider, spreading, ovate, round-topped, or on bleak situations 

 especially near the sea shore more or less irregularly distorted. 



BARK — Light reddish-brown separating off in long narrow shreddy 



strips more or less fringed at the edges, frequently somewhat spirally 

 twisted. 



T\VIGS — Generally' 4-sidecl in mature trees, green from covering of 

 minute leaves, not flattened nor arranged in fan-shaped clusters. 

 becoming reddish-brown after the fall of the leaves. Photograph of 

 twig" is about % natural size. 



LKAA'ES — Dark green or reddish-brown with aromatic odor "n^hen 

 crushed, persistent for several years, of two kinds: — 



1. Tlie form typical of the species; about 2 mm. or less long, scale- 

 like, opposite in pairs, forming 4 ranks, closely overlapping and 

 appressed, rounded, with or without an inconspictious glandular dot on 

 the back, ovate, sharp <:ir blunt-pointed. (See left hand twig.) 



2. The juvenile f^irm: occurring often exclusively on very young 

 trees and also frequently together with the typical form on older 

 trees; narrow, awl-shaped to needle-shaped, sharp-pointed without 

 glands, spreading, scattered and not overlapping, opposite or in 3's, 

 5-20 mm. long. (See right hand twig.) 



mns — Inconspicuous. 



FRVrr — About the size of a small pea, fleshy, berry-like, dark blue, 

 covered with a bloom, sweetish with a resinous flavor, containing gener- 

 ally 1-2 bony seeds. The fruit remains on the tree during winter but 

 the species is dioecious and consequently not all the trees bear fruit. 



COMPARISONS — The Tied Cedar resembles the Coast "U'hite Cedar but 

 it fails to show a flattened fan-shaped arrangement of its twigs, its 

 twigs further are generally 4-sided when bearing typical leaves and 

 on young trees and generally on some twigs of older trees leaves of 

 the "juvenile type may be found. The berry-like fruit of the Red Cedar 

 when present is the most distinctive character separating this species 

 from the Coast White Cedar. The Comnion Juniper is not to be con- 

 fused with Red Cedar trees that have typical leaves. It resembles 

 somewhat the juvenile leaved form of the Red Cedar, however, but the 

 groAvth of the fi>rmer is generally less upright, the leax^es alwa>'s in 

 3's and generally more whitened above and the buds are more 

 conspicuous. 



DISTRIBVTIO\ — Dry. rocky hills but not at great altitudes, borders 

 of lakes and streams, sterile plains, peaty swamps. Nova Scotia and 

 New Brunswick to Ontario: south to Florida; west to Dakota, Nebraska, 

 Kansas and Indian Territory. 



IN NEW ENGLAND — Maine — rare, though it extends northward to 

 the middle Kennebec valley, reduced almost to a shrub; New Hampshire 

 — most frequent in the southeast part of the state: sparingly in the 

 Connecticut valley, as far north as Haverhill; found also in Hart's 

 location in the White Mountain region; Vermont- — not abundant; occurs 

 here and there on hills at le\'els less than 1.000 feet; frequent in the 

 Champlain and lower Connecticut valleys; Massachusetts — west and 

 center occasional, eastward cummun; Rhode Island — common. 



IN CONNECTICUT— Common. 



AVOOn — Light, close-grained, brittle, not strong, dull red with thin 

 nearly white sapwood. very fragrant, easily worked; largely used for 

 posts, the sills of buildings, the interior finish of houses, the lining of 

 chests and closets as a protection of woolen garments against attacks 

 of moths, and for pails and other small articles of wooden-ware. A 

 decoction of the fruit and leaves is used medicinally and oil of Red 

 Cedar is distilled from the leaves and wood as a perfume. 



