Juniperus virginiana, also known as eastern redcedar, red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and east of the Great Plains. Further west it is replaced by the related Juniperus scopulorum and to the southwest by Juniperus ashei. It is not to be confused with Thuja occidentalis.
Juniperus virginiana
Juniperus virginiana foliage and mature cones
Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)
Characteristic shape in old field succession
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa, throughout parts of western, central and southern Asia, east to eastern Tibet in the Old World, and in the mountains of Central America. The highest-known juniper forest occurs at an altitude of 4,900 metres (16,100 ft) in southeastern Tibet and the northern Himalayas, creating one of the highest tree lines on earth.
Juniper
Cones and leaves of Juniperus communis
Detail of Juniperus chinensis shoots, with juvenile (needle-like) leaves (left), adult scale leaves, and immature male cones (right)
Juniper needles, magnified. Left, J. communis (Juniperus sect. Juniperus, needles 'jointed' at base). Right, J. chinensis (Juniperus sect. Sabina, needles merging smoothly with the stem, not jointed at base)