Taxon

Juniperus virginiana

 
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Juniperus virginiana - Eastern Redcedar
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Common name: Eastern Redcedar
Family: Cupressaceae (Cypress)
Distribution: Eastern North America
Hardiness: USDA Zone 2
Life form: Evergreen tree
Usage: Ornamental, Timber
Comments: Jefferson envisioned hedges and dark labyrinths composed of the eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana). He also directed the planting of this evergreen to encourage the local population of mockingbirds, his favorite bird. In a letter to his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph, sent from Philadelphia on June 10th, 1793, Jefferson wrote: “I sincerely congratulate you on the arrival of the Mocking bird. Learn all the children to venerate it as a superior being in the form of a bird, or as a being which will haunt them if any harm is done to itself or its eggs. I shall hope that the multiplication of the cedar in the neighborhood, and all the trees and shrubs round the house, will attract more of them: for they like to be in the neighborhood of our habitations, if they furnish cover.” In his only published book, Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson listed this species under the category "Useful for Fabrication."

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