Specimen #41 Eastern RedcedarJuniperus virginiana
photo by me, taken in West Des Moines
March 2009
This is the tree discussed at length in Discover Nature in Winter. It is not really a cedar, but a juniper. One new thing that I learned about this tree from my own research is that male trees are one of the first trees to flower and that you can cause the tree to "smoke" by gently swatting the branches. (see Great Plains Nature Center in Witchita, KS for details).
Of course, the ethnobotany database at U Mich tells us that natives used this plant for everything. This tree has more listings in the database than any species I've found. I want to get closer once the ground dries out more, see if this is male or female and look for bagworm sacks. I need to be in the area anyway, as I work my way to GC1N83A Woman's Best Friend and 200 finds.
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