Junipers & Cypresses
What are they?
Though some of these species are often called cedars, finding conifers that looked less like true cedars than these would be hard to do!! However, it seems likely that they were named cedars by the settlers who found the wood to have similar qualities to the wood of the true cedars. A number of recent publications have used the alternative - and taxonomically more accurate - name of Virginia Juniper rather than the misleading Eastern Red Cedar, so that trend is continued here. These trees are members of the cypress family, as indicated by there overlapping, scale-like leaves.
Where are they found?
The two native species are common and found throughout the county in suitable habitat. A number of other species are widely grown as ornamentals and may occasionally be found in cemetries or abandoned tracts in the wider countryside.
Identification
Pay careful attention to the shape of the scale-like leaves and the fruits to identify this group. Bald Cypress differs clearly in its elongate leaves and deciduous behavior.
Atlantic White-cedar Chamaecyparis thyoides
A common tree of old, wet bogs, most frequently found as pure stands of climax woodland close to permanent streams and rivers. Pure stands often block out most of the light and the ground layer below can be very thin and often reduced to mosses. Southern New Jersey's once famous white cedar giants were all felled long ago, but regeneration continues and large stands are developing again in the north of the county. Has small, nobbly green cones which turn hard and brown before falling from the tree.
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Leyland Cypress X Cupressocyparis leylandii
A popular tree for hedging and marking property boundaries. Occasionally found in a more or less apparently wild state, but always planted. Originated in the UK in cultivation as a bigeneric hybrid between Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) and Nootka Cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis).
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Japanese Shore Juniper Juniperus conferta
Native of Eastern Asia. A popular groundcover plant in gardens and occasionally found more or less naturalized elsewhere, especially in coastal dunes on the barrier islands. Plants grow horizontally, forming dense mats of vegetation.
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Virginia Juniper Juniperus virginiana
(Eastern Red Cedar) An abundant tree throughout the county and filling a wide range of niches. Most typically found in dry, sandy soil where it is often a pioneer species on disturbed ground. Also a common tree on coastal sands and dunes, where old trees can become very gnarled and contorted by the wind. For much of the year it is usually possible to find evidence of berries to confirm the identification of this species. Plants have two types of foliage; 'juvenile' foliage (prickly needles) which is typically found on young plants and 'adult' foliage (overlapping scales), which develops as the tree matures.
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Bald Cypress Taxodium distichum
It has generally been believed that this species is not native in New Jersey, reaching north only as far as Delaware. A well-known tree at Beaver Dam appears to have been planted in the 1880s by James Van Gilder, the then owner of Clint's Mill which once stood nearby. Other large specimens can be seen along Route 9 near Magnolia Lake. However, a stand of young trees was found in a dense swamp at Goshen in 2011 and re-opens the debate as to whether this is a native species here. Bald Cypress is the famous tree of the southern backwaters and swamps (along with the closely-related Pond Cypress) which sends up 'knees' from the roots to help take up oxygen in waterlogged soils. It gets its English name from the fact that it sheds its leaves in the fall.
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Japanese Cedar Cryptomeria japonica
A fairly common garden plant that is grown in various ornamental forms. The true species is occasionally grown as a screen or shelter belt and may sometimes be found on waste ground or abandoned properties. All parts of this plant are fairly distinctive, from its leaves - which are mid way between the true needles of pines and cedars, and the scale leaves of cypresses - to its shaggy bark and bristly cones.
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