Red cedar juniper

A Cedar by any Other Name...   

Would Be Preferable! 

"Cedar" is perhaps the most misapplied common name in botanical science.  At least three different North American genera, all members of the cypress family (Chamaecyparis, Juniperus, Thuja), are commonly - and mistakenly - referred to as cedars, largely through the influence of the marketing of timber products.  True cedars, genus Cedrus, are members of the pine family.  The only representative of the "false" cedars that one is likely to encounter in our region is eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), perhaps more properly called red cedar juniper.

A species common to lowlands (but almost never encountered north of Sheffield), red cedar juniper is not a forest tree per se, but rather a component of old-field succession, the process by which abandoned agricultural land is reabsorbed into the forest matrix.  It is a particularly early pioneer due to the fact that it is rather unpalatable to livestock, and is a common sight in disturbed areas such as the margins of highways.  This species is easily identified by its brown, dry, shredding bark which exfoliates in a longitudinal fashion, and is distinguished by its un-ridged trunk from the slightly similar arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), which though native in some small degree, exists more commonly in our region as cultivated specimens and the scions thereof.  Red cedar juniper, while a very useful timber species, is an indispensible food source for many animals, particularly migratory birds.

Unlike most of the species previously mentioned, which generally occur in specific circumstances and niche locations, several easy-to-identify deciduous tree species are nearly ubiquitous in distribution, although most tend to be supporting, rather than predominating members of forest communities.  Among these, none is distributed as widely as black cherry (Prunus serotina), an efficient colonizer of woodland vacancies produced via natural or human disturbance.  A rapidly-growing tree, its modus operandi is still fully evident at maturity when its growth rate has stabilized: a tall, unbranched trunk, sometimes having grown up in a curvilinear, gravity-defying fashion, still evokes the feverish race to pierce the canopy.

To my eye, once recognized, black cherry can be confused with nothing else.  Mature bark is very dark, scaly, and with even greater age becomes fissured to reveal reddish-brown underbark.  Bark overlaying youngest tissues is reddish-brown, turning rapidly to a varied dark gray, of a visual quality similar to an India ink-wash, and marked with prominent horizontal, streaked markings (lenticels) that characterize the genus Prunus at large.  In fact, if one could array them in some sort of monumentally scaled police line-up, one would notice many direct comparisons between this largest native member of the rose family and the smaller pin cherry (P. pensylvanica), the rare (in our region) wild plum (P. americana), the choke cherry (P. virginiana), and even the cultivated peach (P.persica).  Another easy identifier of black cherry - common to many of its relatives - is the presence of black knot, a pathogen which causes the tree to produce strange burls which can grow to the size of a large pumpkin.

American beech (Fagus grandifolia), is the only easily identified native species in a family that includes some of the most difficult, the oaks.  By contrast with them, American beech is unmistakable for anything else in the American forest.  From top to bottom and from smallest twig to girthiest trunk, the entire tree is clad in thin, smooth, medium-gray bark, and as such is somewhat of an oddity among Nearctic trees.  While young, often clonal colonies are common in mixed woodlands, one does occasionally encounter large specimens whose smooth, matte gray trunks suggest nothing so much as the legs of colossal pachyderms.  Like its cousin the pin oak, beech trees often retain dead leaves until late in the winter, particularly when young.

Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) is similarly easy to distinguish due to its rough, gray - and yes - shaggy bark which exfoliates in quite an unusual manner, separating from the surface in long, curving strips attached in the middle.  Fortunately, this characteristic is evident in fairly young trees as well as in mature specimens, ensuring quick recognition in a family that features includes pignut hickory, bitternut hickory, black walnut, and butternut, all of which are difficult to tell apart in winter if fallen fruits are not present for examination.

American elm (Ulmus americana), once the king of the American street, is rarely encountered as a large, mature tree in the wild, but since Dutch Elm Disease, endemic since the 1920's, does not normally affect trees until they have attained at least 6" bole diameter, the elm remains a common presence in our forests, particularly in the Central Valley.  Unlike beech, cherry and the hickories, elms rarely occur on the Berkshire Plateau.  Although young trees do not possess the distinctive vase-like habit of the mature giants, they do already display the gray, furrowed, scaly bark that can be confused with few other native trees.  Other trees with similar bark - such as ash and cottonwood - have other hallmark features such as coarse texture or large buds that make misidentification unlikely.

The sycamore, or American planetree (Platanus occidentalis), is just about the most dramatic tree to be found in eastern North America.  With its smooth, chalky-colored bark, exfoliating in large flakes to reveal varicolored patches of underbark, it is impossible to mistake this species for any other.  It is almost exclusively found growing in the alluvial soils of our lowlands, and given a stable streambank environment, is one of those species - like cottonwood - that can grow to simply awe-inspiring proportions.

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Another common resident of the central valley, from forest to abandoned lot, is the opportunistic black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia).  This species is thought not to be truly native to the area but proliferated from plantings introduced largely for the production and harvest of its highly rot-resistant wood, traditionally used for fence posts, for which purpose it exceeds nearly all other native hardwoods in durability, and compared to which pressure-treated wood products are a joke.  Black locust saplings and twigs are pure evil, bearing strong, paired thorns around the leaf scars; they make for an easy identification, whether perceived by sight or by draught of blood.  The bark of this species is also quite memorable, becoming dark, crosshatched and deeply ridged, forming massive buttress-like structures in old specimens.  Black locust is the largest indigenous member of the pea family (Fabaceae), and like all legumes, utilizes specialized root organs to fix atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by plants, thereby enriching the soil.  While soil enrichment usually has positive connotations, it can sometimes threaten niche habitats such as pine-barrens that only exist in nutrient deprived substrates, producing an odd situation in which this tree, though a native species, has been listed in many states as a noxious, invasive weed.