Red Cedar vs. Southern Yellow Pine
Two members of the cypress family of conifers are called red-cedar in North America: the western and eastern red-cedars, actually not terribly closely related. Neither are true cedars, hence the hyphen in their common name. Meanwhile, southern yellow pine refers not to a single species but rather to several, and is used mainly as a lumber term. Does this Spark an idea?
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The Red-cedars
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The western red-cedar is native to the Pacific Northwest, with a distribution heavily tied to the influence of cool, moist weather systems off the Pacific Ocean. It grows most broadly in coastal mountains from southeastern Alaska to northern California, including the west-slope Cascade Range, but populations also persist in the Northern Rocky Mountains also exposed to maritime climate. Scrubbier and more widespread, the eastern red-cedar is more properly called the Eastern juniper, as it is a member of that genus, Juniperus. This small tree inhabits much of eastern North America.
Southern Yellow Pines
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The southern yellow pines refer to four commercially important species of pine native to the Southeastern U.S.: the loblolly, shortleaf, longleaf and slash. The longleaf is found across much of the Atlantic-Gulf Coastal Plain and portions of the Southern Appalachians. The shortleaf has a broader range, common in parts of the coastal plain but also well distributed in the Appalachians. Loblolly pine has a somewhat similar geographic distribution. Slash pine is another coastal-plain specialist that ranges farther south than the others, inhabiting the near-tropical toe of Florida and the Florida Keys.
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Comparisons
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The red-cedars and southern yellow pines look nothing alike, though all are evergreen conifers. The western red-cedar is a gargantuan tree, one of the biggest in the world: Large old specimens may exceed 250 feet tall and 20 feet in diameter. They sport scale-like leaves on wide-splayed, drooping branches. Eastern red-cedars have hard-packed, scaly foliage typical of junipers. Both these species have fibrous, aromatic bark. The southern yellow pines are rough-barked. The longleaf pine, as its name suggests, sports elongated needles: They may be 18 inches long. Those of the shortleaf pine may be 3 or 4 inches, while loblolly and slash pines' are midway between. In terms of ecology, the western red-cedar is the most moisture-dependent of the gang: It flourishes best in swamps and riparian corridors in the temperate rainforests it calls home. Eastern red-cedars inhabit a striking variety of habitats from abandoned pastures and roadside ditches to rocky uplands and dunes. The southern yellow pines cover large parts of the Atlantic-Gulf Coastal Plain in savannas or open woodlands of immense ecological importance.
As Lumber
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All these species are used commercially as lumber. The wood of the four pines is usually collectively classified simply as "southern yellow pine," and those species are among the most economically important timber trees in the Southeast. Eastern red-cedar often contributes its wood to fence-posts and, before natural populations were diminished, pencils. Western red-cedar is prized for its rot-resistant, aromatic wood, and has long been used by Northwest indigenous peoples for canoes, dwellings and a myriad of other constructions.
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References
- "National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America"; Bruce Kershner, et al.; 2008
- "Forest Products Journal"; Homebuilder Attitudes and Preferences Regarding Southern Yellow Pine; R.P. Vlosky; April 2003
- "Northern Woodlands"; Eastern Redcedar, Juniperus virginiana; Virginia Barlow; December 2004
Resources
- Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
