Eastern Red Cedar, Pencil Cedar, and Red Juniper (Juniperus virginiana) belongs to the Cypress family and is spread along the eastern North American Coast down through Florida. It is actually a juniper and not a cedar - here the colloquial term has prevailed. Its common name is Cedar due to the woods aromatic scent, but it is no true cedar wood. The fine-grained soft wood is purplish to rose-red with pale white to creamy sapwood, with characteristic streaks of lighter coloured sapwood. The heartwood often contains large knots. It is fragrant, very light and very durable. This wood is demanded as lining for clothes chests and closets because it is naturally resistant to rot and is avoided by moths. Today luxurious items like humidors and handcrafted objects are made from this versatile wood. This wood was the favourite wood of Frederick the Great in the 18th century, he had many pieces of furniture and whole rooms in his residence Sanssouci made with this extravagant wood, which was imported to Prussia from the east coast of America for this purpose!
