Tulsabonsigh
Shohin
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Mine has both scale and needles. I think it’s eastern red cedar juniper anyone have any thoughts? 
Eastern red cedar (Juniperus)
- Thread starter Tulsabonsigh
- Start date
Eckhoffw
Masterpiece
I think that is a scary trunk. 
Tulsabonsigh
Shohin
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I like it! I think it’s unique
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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Depends, on the history of the tree. There's near a dozen juniper species native to North America, where was it collected, or did it come from nursery material? Is it "urban yamadori" meaning planted by man, then later collected from the landscape.
So provenance is important to figure out which species it is. More information please.
So provenance is important to figure out which species it is. More information please.
Tulsabonsigh
Shohin
- Messages
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I dug it off the side of an embankment next to a highway 10 miles from nearest civilization. Outside Tulsa, Oklahoma
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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I'll talk you through how I would figure out what species of tree I'm looking at. This way, you or anyone else who is new to bonsai, will know how to find some of this information yourselves. I don't mind doing it, today I have time, this is just in case you want to know the process
Because we already knew it was a Juniper of some sort, one of the first places I hit is Wikipedia. You could also hit your state forestry site, which for Oklahoma eventually refers you back to the USA National Forest Service. But an hour or two you could drill down to a list of all the native trees of Oklahoma.
www.forestry.ok.gov
the list below I got from Wikipedia alone.
I was surprised to find out there are at least 26 species of Juniper native to North America, 4 times as many species as I originally guessed. And Wikipedia tends to be low in its species counts, as often minor species or very rare species are omitted.
Native junipers of Oklahoma include
Juniperus ashei - Ashe juniper - only native in south central Ok, and a small area in far northeast, only on eroded caliche soils. Not likely your plant. if foliage is rank smelling when wet, maybe. Range has spread as land use has eroded soils, the juniper spreads into eroded caliche soils.
J. osteosperma - one seed juniper - only in the far western part of the pan handle, not likely to be your plant.
J. pinchottii - red seed juniper - only in the west border area next to Texas, south of the panhandle. Not likely your tree.
J. scopulorum - Rocky Mountain Juniper - very local only in westernmost tip of panhandle, not likely your tree.
J. virginiana - Eastern Red Cedar - found throughout the state, except the panhandle and along the Texas border immediately south of the Panhandle. The rest of Oklahoma has J. virginiana, this is the most likely of your candidates. This is probably your tree.
Invasive species of Juniper that have to some degree naturalized throughout North America
J. chinensis, J. communis, J. horizontalis, J. × pfitzeriana . Technically J horizontalis is native to North America, but its original range was only in the northeastern states, Canada, and along the shorelines of the Great Lakes. Very widely planted as an ornamental across the USA.
Given my familiarity with the invasive species, I think the juniper you have is definitely J. virginiana, Eastern Red Cedar, ERC for short. There is a low probability it could be x pfitzeriana, but I would just stick with ERC, unless some experienced person sees your tree in person and gives you a different name. From photos, I would stick with best guess ERC.
As bonsai, ERC have a spotty track record. It is not an easy juniper to get to conform to "classical Japanese bonsai design". Foliage tends to remain loose, will resist efforts to compact foliage into pads or clouds as is done with J. chinensis (Shimpaku). But there have been a few really good specimens, notable is the J. virginiana owned by BNut member @vancehanna , here is Vance's photo of his tree. He is the owner of this photo, taken 2019.
So ERC can make a beautiful bonsai.
With your tree, my initial plan would be to keep it potted exactly the way it is now. Do nothing for 2 years. I would not even prune it. Just let it settle in. ERC are known to dislike being repotted. They usually 2 or more years between repots, as often they do not show vigorous growth until second or third year after a repotting, or other root disturbance. I would use a mostly inorganic media, and plan on not repotting more than once every 5 years or so. There are some who will disagree with me, but this has worked for me when I did own ERC. I no longer have any. I got tired of trying to work with their foliage.
You have an interesting trunk, that alone is reason enough to make the effort to work with this species.
Because we already knew it was a Juniper of some sort, one of the first places I hit is Wikipedia. You could also hit your state forestry site, which for Oklahoma eventually refers you back to the USA National Forest Service. But an hour or two you could drill down to a list of all the native trees of Oklahoma.
Forestry Services – ODAFF
www.forestry.ok.gov
the list below I got from Wikipedia alone.
I was surprised to find out there are at least 26 species of Juniper native to North America, 4 times as many species as I originally guessed. And Wikipedia tends to be low in its species counts, as often minor species or very rare species are omitted.
Native junipers of Oklahoma include
Juniperus ashei - Ashe juniper - only native in south central Ok, and a small area in far northeast, only on eroded caliche soils. Not likely your plant. if foliage is rank smelling when wet, maybe. Range has spread as land use has eroded soils, the juniper spreads into eroded caliche soils.
J. osteosperma - one seed juniper - only in the far western part of the pan handle, not likely to be your plant.
J. pinchottii - red seed juniper - only in the west border area next to Texas, south of the panhandle. Not likely your tree.
J. scopulorum - Rocky Mountain Juniper - very local only in westernmost tip of panhandle, not likely your tree.
J. virginiana - Eastern Red Cedar - found throughout the state, except the panhandle and along the Texas border immediately south of the Panhandle. The rest of Oklahoma has J. virginiana, this is the most likely of your candidates. This is probably your tree.
Invasive species of Juniper that have to some degree naturalized throughout North America
J. chinensis, J. communis, J. horizontalis, J. × pfitzeriana . Technically J horizontalis is native to North America, but its original range was only in the northeastern states, Canada, and along the shorelines of the Great Lakes. Very widely planted as an ornamental across the USA.
Given my familiarity with the invasive species, I think the juniper you have is definitely J. virginiana, Eastern Red Cedar, ERC for short. There is a low probability it could be x pfitzeriana, but I would just stick with ERC, unless some experienced person sees your tree in person and gives you a different name. From photos, I would stick with best guess ERC.
As bonsai, ERC have a spotty track record. It is not an easy juniper to get to conform to "classical Japanese bonsai design". Foliage tends to remain loose, will resist efforts to compact foliage into pads or clouds as is done with J. chinensis (Shimpaku). But there have been a few really good specimens, notable is the J. virginiana owned by BNut member @vancehanna , here is Vance's photo of his tree. He is the owner of this photo, taken 2019.
So ERC can make a beautiful bonsai.
With your tree, my initial plan would be to keep it potted exactly the way it is now. Do nothing for 2 years. I would not even prune it. Just let it settle in. ERC are known to dislike being repotted. They usually 2 or more years between repots, as often they do not show vigorous growth until second or third year after a repotting, or other root disturbance. I would use a mostly inorganic media, and plan on not repotting more than once every 5 years or so. There are some who will disagree with me, but this has worked for me when I did own ERC. I no longer have any. I got tired of trying to work with their foliage.
You have an interesting trunk, that alone is reason enough to make the effort to work with this species.
