Red cedar – World class weed
Red cedar, you say? No, it’s actually a juniper from a botanist’s perspective – Juniperus virginiana. There are about 70 species of junipers worldwide, with about 13 species in the United States. The numbers are changing slightly over time as botanists develop new genetic information on the plant group. Robert P. Adams of Baylor University is the world’s leading expert on the genus Juniperus, and his Junipers of the World, with a 4th edition published in 2014, is the definitive work on the subject.
Our eastern red cedar, which occurs in much of the United States and Canada is largely absent west of Colorado. It is the most common coniferous tree in Arkansas.
We generally think of invasive weeds as alien plants from some other part of the world, but the eastern red cedar is a world-class weed in its own home. World juniper expert Robert Adams, calls it, “Perhaps the most aggressive, weedy, juniper in the world. After eating the fruits (actually cones) on a female tree, birds on a wire fence disperse the seed creating a typical pattern of ‘fence row junipers.’”
One of the things that makes it so successful is its ability to grow and spread in tall grass. This makes it aggressive and successful at invading pastures, abandoned fields, farmland and fencerows.
This evergreen weedy native tree is also very successful on dry thin, stone-laden soils that most plants shun. Exposed limestone and chert glades, once a predominant habitat of the Ozarks and home to many prairie species and native grassland habitats, have been largely invaded by eastern red cedar due to fire suppression, especially since the 1930s.
Blame Smokey the Bear, who now says (at his official website), “Fire can be an important part of maintaining diverse and healthy ecosystems.” Various efforts are underway throughout the Ozarks by many conservation groups and land management agencies to restore glades to their natural state through the thinning of red cedar trees and the judicious application of prescribed burns.
If you are not familiar with it as a tree you are undoubtedly familiar with the fragrance. The moth-proofing reddish wood of eastern red cedar is the stuff of which cedar chests are made. Those prone to chewing on pencils fifty years ago know red cedar wood’s flavor.