Eastern white cedar is a very familiar plant thanks to its use in hedges. Like other gymnosperms, it bears cones; the seed cones are 1-2 cm long and the male cones are positively tiny, both are found at the tips of the branches. A fully grown cedar is a lovely tree, with soft stringy red-brown bark and gently curving branches. Cedars and other conifers provide important shelter for birds, and deer also feed on cedar in the wintertime when other, more succulent plants cannot be had. Cedars can live an incredibly long time; an individual living on the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario had its growth rings examined, and was found to have germinated back in 688!