Wanted: Red cedar seeds. Rangers will pick up.
The state's forest rangers added seed collection to their duties this month, gathering the stock that will produce the state nursery's next crop of red cedar seedlings.
The state Division of Forestry Resources has asked North Carolina residents to call forest rangers if they have good seed-producing eastern red cedars or southern red cedars on their properties.
The state needs bucket loads of seeds to plant by Christmas to have seedlings ready to sell by next Thanksgiving.
The eastern red cedar is one of the most popular trees available at the state nursery in Goldsboro, selling out every year, said James West, head of the state nursery and tree improvement program.
"It's used for erosion control and wildlife purposes," West said. "It looks pretty, too."
This is the second year the nursery has grown the southern red cedar, West said. The southern red does well around saltwater. The tree grows on the state's coastal fringe and helps control erosion.
The seeds are encased in purplish berries that are easy to spot.
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For more information on seed donations, call agency spokesman Brian R. Haines at 857-4828.
