The word cedar is used for trees in several different groups, which is why the scientific name is worth learning.
Identifying cedars and junipers
Scientific name: Cedrus, Thuja, Juniperus and others
What gets called a cedar
- True cedars (Cedrus): needles in clusters on spurs, and upright barrel-shaped cones.
- Western red cedar and northern white-cedar (Thuja): flat sprays of scale leaves and small woody cones.
- Eastern redcedar: a juniper, not a cedar.
- Incense cedar (Calocedrus) and Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis): also cypress-family trees.
Junipers
Junipers have sharp needle-like foliage, often in whorls of three, or small scale leaves, and their cones are fleshy, blue and berry-like. See the juniper page.
Cedar and juniper compared
For the arborvitae kind, look for flat sprays of scales and small woody cones. For junipers, look for sharp foliage and blue berry-like cones. For true cedars, look for tufts of needles on spurs.
Easy ways to tell them
- Foliage: tufts of needles mean a true cedar; flat sprays of scales mean arborvitae; prickly or scale-like shoots mean juniper.
- Cones: barrel-shaped and upright (true cedar), small and woody (arborvitae), blue and fleshy (juniper).
- Bark: stringy and reddish in all except true cedar, which is dark and ridged.
Other cypress-family trees
Bald cypress is a deciduous conifer of swamps, with flat, feathery needles, and knobbly knees that rise from the wet ground. Coast redwood and giant sequoia are close relatives and belong to the same family.