Eastern Red Cedar (Juniper virginiana)

Eastern Red Cedar is an Evergreen, aromatic tree with narrow, compact, columnar crown. This evergreen usually grows 30-40 ft. Fragrant, scale-like foliage varies in color from gray-green to blue-green to light- or dark-green.The most widely distributed eastern conifer, native in 37 states. Eastern Red Cedar is resistant to extremes of drought, heat, and cold. Don’t plant near apples, as Red Cedar is an alternate host for cedar-apple rust. Prized by colonists for building furniture, rail fences, and log cabins. The "berries" are consumed by many kinds of wildlife, including the cedar waxwing, named for this tree. The fruits are a staple for many birds and small mammals. Also provides nesting material and cover. Cedar is one of the four sacred plants of the indigenous Medicine Wheel and represents the Southern direction. The cedar tree has been revered for its spiritual significance for thousands of years. Its wood was used for the doors of sacred temples and burned in cleansing ceremonies for purification. Cedar has a long history of use in indigenous sweat lodge ceremonies and the tree was thought to house important spirits and to be an entrance to higher spiritual realms. Cedar is often used in the sweat lodge ceremony. The smoke of burning cedar is said to attract the good spirits and eliminate negative energies.