{"id":21738,"date":"2023-03-27T12:00:27","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T16:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=21738"},"modified":"2025-06-03T14:42:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T18:42:43","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-eastern-red-cedar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-eastern-red-cedar\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: Eastern Red Cedar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was\u00a0published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species.\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 70 years later, the publication has\u00a0been updated through a joint effort by the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,\u00a0Indiana 4-H<\/a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0full publication<\/a> is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.\"Drawing<\/a><\/p>\n

Each week, the Intro to\u00a0Trees of Indiana web\u00a0series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book, paired with an\u00a0ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Lenny Farlee<\/a>\u00a0to help visualize each species as it stands in the woods.\u00a0Threats to species\u00a0health\u00a0as well as\u00a0also\u00a0insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided\u00a0through additional resources as well as the\u00a0Hardwoods of the Central Midwest<\/a>\u00a0exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

This week, we meet Eastern red cedar or\u00a0Juniperus virginiana<\/em>, one of the most common coniferous trees in\u00a0Indiana.<\/p>\n

This evergreen tree, also known as aromatic cedar, is unique in that it has both scale-like and sharp-pointed leaves. The foliage can be soft to the touch on mature trees or be quite sharp in seedlings and younger trees. The foliage turns from green to blueish green in spring to red or brown in winter.<\/p>\n

The red cedar features a shreddy bark on both the trunk and branches, which is gray brown in color. It is slow growing but may live longer than 450 years.<\/p>\n

The fruit of red cedar is a small cone, which resembles and is often referred to as a berry, that is blue in color and features a whitish bloom on the surface. The fruit is preferred by birds and wildlife of many varieties and is thus spread to roadsides, old pastures and other locations with plenty of sun and disturbed soil. It can be found in forest understories, but prefers direct sunlight.<\/p>\n