Eastern redcedar         

Eastern redcedar is common throughout Virginia, particularly on limestone soils in the mountain/valley region. On school grounds they are common along fence lines where resting birds deposit seeds that they have eaten and digested (the seeds pass through intact). Redcedars are relatively free of insects, so the primary consumers of the tree are birds that eat the berry-like cones. Because redcedar is dioecious, only female trees produce fruit. Cedar-apple rust is a disease of apple trees that uses redcedar as an alternate host. You can see the fruiting bodies of this fungus on redcedar in the springtime.