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Cedar of Lebanon, history and uses

F. Nigel Hepper, Botanist (retired), Kew Herbarium

14 July 2008 16.55pm

Cedar of Lebanon at Kew

At Kew there are lots of cedars of Lebanon, which are easily recognised by their huge size and spreading, horizontal branches. I studied them for many years, both in the mountains of Lebanon and at old country houses in England - including Kew - where there are now more than in the wild.

The Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica) from Morocco and the deodar (Cedrus deodara), a Himalayan cedar with longer, drooping needle leaves, are close relatives. All three are conifers in the pine family, Pinaceae. Their fruits are cones which are hard and woody with the seeds tucked between the scales. Unlike pine (Pinus) cones, cedar (Cedrus) cones break up when they are ripe.

To tell the three species apart, look at the shape of the trees: Atlas cedar branches ascend, deodar branches descend, and cedar of Lebanon branches are level.

Cedar of Lebanon wood is very famous as it was used for King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. You can read about it in the Bible in 1 Kings chapters 5, 6 and 7 and elsewhere. The Egyptian pharaohs also used cedar wood for ships and temples. I studied the transport of cedar of Lebanon timber when writing my book Pharaoh's Flowers, about the botanical treasures of Tutankhamun.

Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria 858-824 BC, made huge doors of cedar bound with bronze strips for the temple of Balawat - the surviving strips with their intricate relief detail can be seen in the British Museum!

Tags: Cedrus atlantica, Cedrus deodara, Cedrus libani

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