In Central and West Texas are found no less than nine species of cedars or junipers, including one eastern, one southern, and seven western species. Of these, the most abundant and important is the Mexican juniper. This tree often forms extensive low forests or dense breaks on the limestone hills and slopes of the Edwards Plateau and Grand Prairie.
ASHE JUNIPER (Berry-like [fruit] and leaves, two-thirds natural size)
The trunk is covered with shreddy, brown or reddish-brown [BARK]. The LEAVES are dark blue-green, small, [opposite] or arranged in 3’s, [scale] like, blunt pointed, and fringed with minute teeth. On vigorous young plants the leaves are sharp pointed and longer, up to ½ inch long.
The “[FRUIT]”, a nearly round, dark blue, berry-like cone is covered with [glaucous] [bloom]; has a thin, pleasant-scented, sweet flesh, enclosing 1 or 2 seeds; and ripens in one season.
The WOOD is light, hard, light brown, close-grained but weak. It is extensively used for fence posts and fuel. The tree is sometimes planted as an ornamental.
EASTERN REDCEDAR
Juniperus virginiana L.
Redcedar is scattered through East Texas, usually on gravelly ridges and rocky hillsides of the uplands.
There are two kinds of LEAVES, usually both on the same tree. The most common is dark green, minute, and scale-like, clasping the twig in four ranks, so that the twig appears square. The other kind, usually appearing on young growth, or vigorous shoots, is awl-shaped, quite sharp-pointed, spreading, and whitened.
The [BARK] is thin, reddish-brown, turning ashy-gray on exposed surfaces, and peels off in long shred-like strips. The trunk is usually more or less grooved.