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Cedar of Lebanon, history and uses

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

Cedrus libani

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

Comments

By christiane hossain

Jan 25, 2009 at 09.41

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very rich informations about cedars. if you were visiting schools , children from the age of 8 or 9 will develop passion for sciences and history.

Regards,

Christiane

By Philippa

Feb 17, 2009 at 12.14

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Thank you for this lovely little bit of descriptive and interesting info.

By Stuka

Apr 03, 2009 at 22.46

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Isn’t that a track of the new u2 album?

By tim empson

May 29, 2009 at 17.40

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what trees they are i have grown one from seed it is seven inches tall and has taken 3 years to get that hight and it has been a plesure to see it grow

By Roland

Nov 14, 2009 at 11.20

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I have a beautiful Cedrus Atlantica that we planted some 18 years ago , I need advice, we would like to keep this tree but its getting

rather tall, some thirty feet at the moment.

Is there anything I can do to limit its growth

due to the proximity to buildings, we have enjoyed this tree over the years but its getting nearer decision time.