Red Cedar Cedar Savin
=Habitat and Range.=--Dry, rocky hills but not at great altitudes,
borders of lakes and streams, sterile plains, peaty swamps.
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Ontario.
Maine,--rare, though it extends northward to the middle Kennebec valley,
reduced almost to a shrub; New Hampshire,--most frequent in the
southeast part of the state; sparingly in the Connecticut valley as far
north as Ha
erhill (Grafton county); found also in Hart's location in
the White mountain region; Vermont,--not abundant; occurs here and there
on hills at levels less than 1000 feet; frequent in the Champlain and
lower Connecticut valleys; Massachusetts,--west and center occasional,
eastward common; Rhode Island and Connecticut,--common.
South to Florida; west to Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian
Territory.
=Habit.=--A medium-sized tree, 25-40 feet high, with a trunk diameter of
8-20 inches, attaining much greater dimensions southward; extremely
variable in outline; the lower branches usually nearly horizontal, the
upper ascending; head when young very regular, narrow-based, close and
conical; in old trees frequently rather open, wide-spreading, ragged,
roundish or flattened. In very exposed situations, especially along the
seacoast, the trunk sometimes rises a foot or two and then develops
horizontally, forming a curiously contorted lateral head. Under such
conditions it occasionally becomes a dwarf tree 2-3 feet high, with
wide-spreading branches and a very dense dome; spray close, foliage a
sombre green, sometimes tinged with a rusty brownish-red; wood pale red,
aromatic.
=Bark.=--Bark of trunk light reddish-brown, fibrous, shredding off, now
and then, in long strips, exposing the smooth brown inner bark; season's
shoots green.
=Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Leaf-buds naked, minute. Leaves dull green or
brownish-red, of two kinds:
1. Scale-like, mostly opposite, each pair overlapping the pair above,
4-ranked, ovate, acute, sometimes bristle-tipped, more or less convex,
obscurely glandular.
2. Scattered, not overlapping, narrowly lanceolate or needle-shaped,
sharp-pointed, spreading. The second form is more common in young trees,
sometimes comprising all the foliage, but is often found on trees of all
ages, sometimes aggregated in dense masses.
=Inflorescence.=--Early May. Flowers terminating short branches, sterile
and fertile, more commonly on separate trees, often on the same tree;
anthers in opposite pairs; ovuliferous scales in opposite pairs,
slightly spreading, acute or obtuse; ovules 1-4.
=Fruit.=--Berry-like from the coalescence of the fleshy cone-scales, the
extremities of which are often visible, roundish, the size of a small
pea, dark blue beneath a whitish bloom, 1-4-seeded.
=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers sunny
slopes and a loamy soil, but grows well in poor, thin soils and upon
wind-swept sites; young plants increase in height 1-2 feet yearly and
have a very formal, symmetrical outline; old trees often become
irregular and picturesque, and grow very slowly; a long-lived tree;
usually obtainable in nurseries and from collectors, but must frequently
be transplanted to be moved with safety. If a ball of earth can be
retained about the roots of wild plants, they can often be moved
successfully. There are horticultural forms distinguished by a slender
weeping or distorted habit, and by variegated bluish or yellowish
foliage, occasionally found in American nurseries. The type is usually
propagated from the seed, the horticultural forms from cuttings or by
grafting.
1. Branch with sterile and fertile flowers.
2. Sterile flower.
3. Stamen with pollen-sacs.
4. Fertile flower.
5. Fruiting branch.
6. Branch.
7. Branch with needle-shaped leaves.