Just about everyone knows what an eastern red cedar is. It’s the wild, native evergreen seen in abandoned fields and along fencelines. Although it’s an attractive tree in the winter landscape, the eastern red cedar can be highly invasive, especially in pastures and woodlots. Interestingly, the red cedar is not truly a cedar at all, but a juniper. In fact, there are no native cedars in the United States, though many ornamental cedars are planted for landscaping purposes. The distinction between junipers and cedars lies in certain botanical characteristics.
The eastern red cedar is dioecious, meaning it has separate male and female trees. This term comes from two Greek words meaning “two houses,” referring to the separate roles of the male and female trees. At this time of year, the differences between the two are particularly noticeable. Male trees display tiny brown pollen cones, giving the tree a brownish hue. Female trees, on the other hand, are adorned with vibrant blue berries, lending them a deep green or bluish-green color. Even from a distance, it’s easy to distinguish the male and female trees by their contrasting appearances.
If you’re experiencing allergies right now, you might want to blame the highly allergenic pollen of the mountain cedar—a close relative of the eastern red cedar. Mountain cedar, another type of juniper, is found in south-central Oklahoma’s Arbuckle Mountains and central Texas. During this season, prevailing southerly winds carry the mountain cedar’s potent pollen far and wide, including to areas where eastern red cedars grow. This trend will persist through February, just as the native red cedars begin to release their own pollen. Notably, mountain cedar pollen is considered one of the most potent allergens in the United States, making it a significant contributor to seasonal allergy woes.
