Common Name: Cedar, Eastern Red
Latin Name: Juniperus virginiana
Address: Oakwood Cemetery, 1st Street South
GPS Coordinates: 38.025107,-78.48522539999999
When is a cedar not a cedar? When it’s an Eastern Red Cedar. The name is a misnomer. This plant is actually a juniper, as its botanical name indicates. Eastern Red Cedar is an evergreen, coniferous tree. This conifer is native to North America and grows from Maine south to Florida and west to South Dakota and Texas. The epithet is Latin for “of Virginia.”
This juniper is easily grown in average, dry to moist, well-drained soils in full sun. It has the best drought resistance of any conifer native to the eastern United States. This tree is easy to transplant and a tough, dependable tree—but considered weedy by many gardeners.
Eastern Red Cedars are dioecious, which means that male and female trees are separate plants. It’s easy to tell the difference between the two. While both bloom in late winter, female eastern red cedars produce green flowers and the males produce yellow flowers. Female trees produce small, round blue cones (“juniper berries”) that mature in the fall and are beloved by cedar waxwings. Male trees make small pollen-producing cones. Pollen is wind-borne and released in large quantities.
The heartwood is light brown and aromatic, in contrast to the white sapwood, and is commonly used for cedar chests. The wood is also often used to make fence posts and rails, as it is naturally rot-resistant. It also repels insects, lending to its appeal for use in clothing storage and pet bedding.
Eastern Red Cedar makes an excellent specimen and does well in a grouping or as a screen or windbreak. It provides cover, habitat, and food for wildlife. It is a host plant for the larvae of both the Juniper hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus) and the Imperial (Eacles imperialis) moths. This tree is also resistant to damage by deer. It is sometimes grown for Christmas trees.
Oakwood Cemetery has served as Charlottesville’s primary public cemetery since the 1860s. Park your car halfway down 1st Street and you will see this impressive double tree near the road.
Note: This tree was on the Charlottesville Tree Commission’s Tree Hunt.