Cedar

CEDAR, a name applied to several coniferous trees of the pine family (see GYMNOSPERMS).

Cedrus Libani,

the far-famed Cedar of Lebanon, is a tree which, on account of its beauty, stateliness and strength, has always been a favourite with poets and painters, and which is frequently em ployed in the Scriptures as a symbol of power, prosperity and longevity. It grows to a vertical height of from 5o to 8o ft. and at an elevation of about 6,000 ft. above sea-level. In the young tree, the bole is straight and upright and one or two leading branches rise above the rest. As the tree increases in size, however, the upper branches become mingled together, and the tree is then clump-headed. Numerous lateral ramifying branches spread out from the main trunk in a horizontal direction, tier upon tier, covering a compass of ground the diameter of which is often greater than the height of the tree. The branchlets of the cedar take the same direction as the branches, and the foliage is very dense. The tree is evergreen ; new leaves are developed every spring, but their fall is gradual. In shape the leaves are straight, tapering, cylindrical and pointed ; they are about I in. long, dark green and grow in alternate tufts of about 3o in number. The male and female flowers grow on the same tree, but are separate. The cones on the upper side of the branches are flattened at the ends and are 4 to 5 in. in length and 2 in. wide ; they take two years to come to perfection and while growing exude much resin. The scales are close pressed to one another and are reddish in colour. The seeds are provided with a long membranous wing. The root is strong and ramifying. The cedar flourishes best on sandy, loamy soils. Cedars occur in great numbers on Mt. Lebanon, chiefly on the western slopes, not forming a continuous forest, but in groves, some of which contain several thousands of trees. There are also large forests on the higher slopes of the Taurus and Anti-Taurus mountains. The wood is fragrant, though not so strongly scented as that of the juniper or red cedar of America. It is generally reddish-brown, light and of a coarse grain and spongy texture, easy to work, but liable to shrink and warp. Mountain-grown wood is harder, stronger, less liable to warp and more durable.

The cedar of Lebanon is cultivated in Europe for ornament only. It can be grown in parks and gardens, and thrives well; but the young plants are unable to bear great variations of tempera ture. The term Eres (cedar) of Scripture does not apply strictly to one kind of plant; the "cedars" for masts, mentioned in Ezek. xxvii. 5, must have been pine-trees. Drawers of cedar or chips of the wood are now employed to protect furs and woollen stuffs from injury by moths. Cedar-wood, however, is said to be in jurious to natural history objects, and to instruments placed in cabinets made of it, as the resinous matter of the wood becomes deposited upon them.

The genus Cedrus contains two other species closely allied to C. Libani—Cedrus Deodara, the deodar, or "god tree" of the Himalayas, and Cedrus atlantica, of the Atlas range, north Africa. The deodar forms forests on the mountains of Afghanistan, north Baluchistan and the north-west Himalayas ; at an elevation of from 5,500 to 12,000 f t. it may grow to a height of 6o to 7o ft. before branching. The wood is close-grained, long-fibred, per fumed and highly resinous, and resists the action of water. The foliage is of a paler green, the leaves are slenderer and longer, and the twigs are thinner than those of C. Libani. The tree is em ployed for a variety of useful purposes, especially in building. It is now cultivated in England and in California as an ornamental plant. C. atlantica, the Atlas cedar, has shorter and denser leaves than C. Libani; the leaves are glaucous, sometimes of a silvery whiteness, and the cones smaller than in the other two forms; its wood also is hard, and more rapid in growth than is that of the ordinary cedar. It is found at an altitude of from 4,000 to 6,000 feet.

The name cedar is applied to a variety of trees, including species of several genera of conifers, Juniperus, Thuja, Libo cedrus, Chamaecyparis and Cupressus. Libocedrus decurrens of western North America is known in the United States as incense (or white) cedar, and the name "white cedar" is applied to Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana, the Port Orford or Oregon cedar, a native of the north-west States. The Bermuda cedar (Juniperus bermudiana) and the red or American cedar (J. virginiana) are used in joinery and in the manufacture of pencils. The Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) is a kind of cypress. Another species of cypress (Chamaecyparis thyoides), found in swamps in the south of Ohio .and Massachusetts, is known as the American white cedar. The Spanish cedar is Juniperus than/era, a native of the western Mediterranean region, and also to another common species, J. Oxycedrus common in the Mediterranean region, form ing a shrub or low tree with spreading branches and short, stiff, prickly leaves. A species of cypress, Cupressus lusitanica, natural ized in the neighbourhood of Cintra, is known as the cedar of Goa. The genus Widdringtonia of tropical and South Africa is also known locally as cedar. The family Meliaceae (which is entirely distinct from the conifers) includes, along with the mahog anies and other valuable timber-trees, the Jamaica and the Austra lian red cedars, Cedrela odorata and C. Toona respectively.

See Veitch, Manual of Coni f erae (2nd ed., 190o) ; C. C. Rogers, Conifers and Their Characteristics (1920).