Plant of the Month
Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
SBTH members Ed and Susan Layton asked for advice on improving habitat in the yard surrounding their new home in southern Illinois. One of the trees we are recommending is eastern red cedar. This conifer is a small to medium tree with an irregular pyramidal shape and relatively dense branches. Native to the eastern half of the United States, the fruit of this tree, and the insects it harbors, provide food for migrating and nesting songbirds.
The USDA fact sheet about this tree states the following regarding the value of eastern red cedar:
Wildlife: Red cedar and other junipers are important to wildlife throughout the country. Their twigs and foliage are eaten extensively by hoofed browsers, but the chief attraction to wildlife is the bluish-black berry-like fruit. The cedar waxwing is one of the principal users of red cedar berries, but numerous other birds and mammals, both large and small, make these fruits an important part of their diet. In addition to their wildlife food value, cedars provide important protective and nesting cover. Chipping sparrows, robins, song sparrows, and mockingbirds use these trees as one of their favorite nesting sites. Juncos, myrtle warblers, sparrows of various kinds, and other birds use the dense foliage as roosting cover. In winter, their dense protective shelter is especially valuable.
Eastern red cedars are attractive trees, taking on a rough pyramidal shape. Dense stands of this tree make good windbreaks. It would be a great addition to any appropriate site where it is indigenous.
Plant of the Month Archives
December 2008 - Witch Hazel
January 2009 - Winterberry
March 2009 - Desert Ironwood
April 2009 - Marsh Marigold
May 2009 - Serviceberry
June 2009 - Choke Cherry
July 2009 - Northern Bush Honeysuckle
August 2009 - Butterfly-weed
September 2009 - Firecracker bush
October 2009 - Black Swallow-wort
November 2009 - Cranberries
December 2009 - Dogwood
January 2010 - Pinyon Pine
February 2010 - California Sage
March 2010 - Desert Mistletoe
April 2010 - Eastern Red Cedar