Summer brings an infinite range of green colors. This summer
a rare event brings more
colors to the eye: female redcedars are producing a heavy cone
crop.

Redcedar is a rough-looking, pointy-scaled and
stringy-barked tree. It’s found along
well-lighted edges of the woods, fencerows and in open,
forgotten areas.

Anywhere there are sunlight and little competition,
redcedars may be found. Their seeds
are spread by birds and so are found growing in the most
unlikely places.

Cones, Not
Berries

Redcedar is a dioecious tree, meaning each tree is only male
or female. Male redcedars
produce pollen, which the wind carries away. Female redcedars
produce small, round cones,
which are sometimes mistakenly called berries and are used to
flavor gin.

Female redcedars produce some cones every year, with large
crops every third year. And
some years, like this summer, redcedars produce an extra
abundance of cones.

Female redcedar cones are one-fourth of an inch thick.
They’re greenish-blue to blue,
with a whitish, waxy coating. The cones form in the fall,
become receptive the following
spring, and disseminate seeds by fall.

Inside each redcedar cone are one to three seeds. These
seeds are covered in resin and
contain a strong growth inhibitor which can delay germination
up to three years. The
whitish coating over a dark blue cone helps produce a variety
of colors in mature trees.

Widespread
Conifer

This year is an especially heavy fruiting year for
redcedars. Many female redcedars
appear bluish-green because of their dense cone load.

Redcedar is a small to medium-size tree with a dense crown.
It’s slow-growing and
reaches sexual maturity after 10 years, with a maximum life
span of three centuries.

The tree can germinate and grow for a short time on many
soils, but is outcompeted by
shrubs and trees. Mature redcedars are found in places where
other trees find it hard to
grow.

Redcedar is the most widely growing conifer tree in the
eastern United States. The
country has about a dozen native species. The Western
hemisphere is home to 25 species.
The world has about 60.

Two Georgia
Redcedars

Georgians are blessed with two common redcedar species:
eastern redcedar (Juniperus
virginiana) and Southern redcedar (Juniperus
silicicola).

The Southern species is found closely hugging the coast on
deep sands. The eastern
redcedar is found throughout the rest of eastern North
America.

In forestry and other scientific disciplines, the tree known
as "redcedar" —
one word — refers specifically to tree-size plants in the
Juniperus genus.

In the common language, these juniper trees are known as
"red cedar" — two
words. The most comprehensive dictionaries note other commonly
used terms for the same
trees, such as "red juniper," "Virginia
cedar" and "cedar."

Juniper, Not
Cedar

The problem scientists have with the common-language term is
simple. A family of trees
found around the world is correctly called "cedar,"
and redcedar is not one of
them. Simply put, redcedar isn’t a cedar. In fact, it has few
things in common with true
cedars.

The leaves and wood of redcedar contain special oils that
are used in perfumes and
medicines. The smell of a cedar chest or cedar-lined closet
comes from these oils. The
wood resists decay and is durable.

The dense seed production this year means that redcedar
cone-eating birds will have a
fall and winter bonanza. It also means that the next few years
will produce a host of
little cedars in flower beds, forest edges and vacant lots.

For now, the bluish-green of redcedar cones framed by the
dark green of the foliage
make for a unique image in forested landscapes.