PENCIL CEDAR
The name "pencil cedar" is problematic. Generally, in North America both it and "Virginia pencil cedar" refer to Juniperus virginiana, which is more appropriately called Eastern red cedar (technically, correctly spelled as 'redcedar') which is on this site as aromatic red cedar. Not only that, if you research pencils you'll find that they are typically made with incense cedar / Calocedrus decurrens, not a juniperus species. Originally, pencils were made from Red Cedar (aka California cedar) / Thuja plicata.
The reason why this wood does not have a specific page, with pics, on this site is that I rarely if ever see any wood advertised or available as "pencil cedar" unless it is actually Eastern red cedar and not any of the numerous other woods that use that common name (see below).
It is technically true, however, that it is also used to refer to any of these additional species in the Juniperus genus, including:
- Juniperus barbadensis = pencil cedar (USA, West Indies)
- Juniperus bermudiana = Bermudan pencil cedar (USA, West Indies)
- Juniperus excelsa = Himalayan pencil cedar (India)
- Juniperus flaccida = Himalayan pencil cedar (India)
- Juniperus procera = African pencil cedar (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda)
- Juniperus procera = East African pencil cedar (East Africa, Zimbabwe)
- Juniperus silicicola = synonym of Juniperus virginiana
- Juniperus virginiana = pencil cedar (but it's really "Eastern red cedar")
And, just to make matters even more fun, it is also used with these species:
- Acrocarpus fraxinifolius = pink pencil cedar (India)
- Caldcluvia australiensis = Atherton pencil cedar (Australia)
- Caldcluvia australiensis = pencil cedar (Australia)
- Caldcluvia paniculosa (syn Ackama paniculosa) = pencil cedar (Australia)
- Calocedrus decurrens = pencil cedar (USA) (but that species is more appropriately called incense cedar and is on this site by that name
- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana = pencil cedar (USA) (but this species is more appropriately called either Port Orford cedar or Lawson cypress]
- Didymocheton rufum = bastard pencil cedar (Australia)
- Dysoxylum fraseranum = pencil cedar (Australia)
- Dysoxylum mollissimum (syn. dysoxylum muelleri) = pencil cedar (Australia)
- Glochidion ferdinandii = pencil cedar (Australia)
- Guarea cedrata = african pink pencil cedar (Ivory Coast) (but this species is more appropriately called guarea or bosse)
- Palaquium amboinense = pencil cedar (Papua New Guinea)
- Palaquium galactoxylum = Cairns pencil cedar (Australia)
- Palaquium vitilevuense = pencil cedar (Philippines)
- Polyscias elegans = black pencil cedar (Australia)
- Polyscias murrayi = pencil cedar (Australia)
- Synoum glandulosum = pencil cedar (Australia)
- Tieghemopanax elegans = black pencil cedar (Australia)