Juniperus L. (Cupressaceae)

A genus of about sixty species of trees and shrubs; temperate, boreal, and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Various species of Juniperus, especially creeping species, are frequently used in landscaping.

Two species occur in North Carolina, both are considered native.

1. Leaves flat-acicular, 5-20 mm long, never scale-like, with a white line on the upper surface; leaves borne in whorls of 3, spreading at 45-90 degrees from the twig; female cones ("berries") axillary, maturing in 2-3 years...J. communis (Ground juniper)

Bark of Juniperus communis (coming soon)

Twigs of Juniperus communis (coming soon)

Leaves of Juniperus communis (coming soon)

Dried female cone of Juniperus communis (Photo: S. Hurst)

Seeds of Juniperus communis (coming soon)

N.C. distribution of Juniperus communis

U.S. distribution of Juniperus communis

Juniperus communis (Ground juniper)
(Rare; in thin soil around rock outcrops on mountain summits and Piedmont monadnocks and rocky bluffs; Mt, Pd; Fl: Mar-Apr, Fr: matures second or third year)

1. Leaves primarily scale-like, ca. 1-2 mm long, though acicular and 2-10 mm long on young trees and some lower branches of larger trees, without a white line on the upper surface (though generally somewhat glaucous); leaves of mature twigs borne in opposite pairs of 2, decussate (thus 4-ranked), appressed to the twig (leaves of immature twigs sometimes in whorls of 3, spreading at 10-45 degrees from the twig); female cones ("berries") terminal on short branches, maturing the first year...J. virginiana (Eastern red cedar)

Bark of Juniperus virginiana (Copyright W. Cook)

Twigs of Juniperus virginiana, showing acicular needles (Photo: A. Krings, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Leaves of mature Juniperus virginiana (Photo: A. Krings, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Female cones and seeds of Juniperus virginiana (Photo: S. Hurst)

Female cones of Juniperus virginiana (Copyright W. Cook)

Female cones and seeds of Juniperus virginiana (Photo: S. Hurst)

N.C. distribution of Juniperus virginiana

U.S. distribution of Juniperus virginiana

Juniperus virginiana (Eastern red cedar)
(Common; in a wide variety of forests, pastures, old fields, roadsides, and fencerows, primarily upland, occurring most abundantly on circumneutral soils [including shrink-swell clays], derived from mafic or calcareous rocks; maritime forests and scrub, hammocks, coastal shell middens and natural shell deposits, brackish marshes, and other sandy or peaty, circumneutral situations; Mt, Pd, CP; Fl: Jan-Mar, Fr: Oct-Nov)