Introductory
SPECIES: Juniperus virginiana | Eastern Redcedar 



ABBREVIATION : 
JUNVIR

SYNONYMS : 
   Sabina virginiana (L.) Antoine


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   JUVI


COMMON NAMES : 
   eastern redcedar
   eastern red cedar
   red juniper
   red cedar
   Baton Rouge
   pencil cedar
   Virginia juniper
   Carolina cedar
   red savin


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name of eastern redcedar is Juniperus
virginiana L. [47].  It is a member of the section Sabina within the
family Cupressaceae [93].  Eastern redcedar is characterized by much
genetic and phenotypic variation [88,102].  Fassett [30] observed that
"variation within any colony is often as great as within the species as
a whole."  Most taxonomists designate numerous varieties as opposed to
subspecies for the sake of maintaining greater uniformity within the
genus Juniperus [94].  Three varieties are commonly recognized [3,54]:

      Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana
      Juniperus virginiana var. crebra (Fernald)
      Juniperus virginiana var. ambigens

Numerous races, including the Platt River Race, Northern Race, Florida
Race, Ozark Race, and Typica Race, have been described [88].
 
Eastern redcedar hybridizes with many other juniper species, including
Juniperus mexicana, Rocky Mountain juniper (J. scopulorum), J.
chinensis, creeping juniper (J. horizontalis), southern redcedar (J.
silicicola), and Ashe juniper (J. ashei) [4,13,28,56,88].  Hybridization
with creeping juniper and the occurrence of hybrid swarms is common
along the coast of Maine and in the Driftless Area of Iowa and Wisconsin
[30].  The variety ambigens may be a hybrid of eastern redcedar and
creeping juniper [3,32].  Hybridization with Rocky Mountain juniper is
widespread across the Great Plains, and intermediate populations and
hybrid swarms abound [18,31,54].

Southern redcedar is poorly differentiated from eastern redcedar.  Some
authorities consider it a variety of eastern redcedar [25,39], but most
consider it a discrete species [54,88].  Rocky Mountain juniper was
formerly considered a subspecies of eastern redcedar, but it too is now
recognized as a separate species [4].  The taxonomy of Caribbean
junipers has been poorly studied, but many appear to be closely related
to eastern redcedar [3].


LIFE FORM : 
Tree, Shrub

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
D. Tirmenstein, May, 1991.


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Tirmenstein, D. A. 1991. Juniperus virginiana. In: Remainder of Citation

Related categories for Species: Juniperus virginiana | Eastern Redcedar