The Eastern Red Cedar is a small-sized and adaptable tree with a thick crown. It is a Kentucky native conifer that grows widely in the eastern United States and into southern Ontario and Quebec.

Frequently associated with glades that have thin rocky soils, this tree provides great protective and nesting cover for wildlife, as well as nutritional fruit eaten by many species, particularly the cedar waxwing.

Eastern Red Cedars are among the best trees for protecting soils from wind erosion. The wood is valued because of its beauty, durability, and workability and is an important source of cedarwood oil used for fragrance compounds.

Images courtesy of:
Jason Sharman
Iowa State University
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University of Kentucky