important difference is the height attained in the wild state, the deodar becoming very tall, the Cyprus cedar remaining short, with the Lebanon and Algerian cedars intermediate in size. They differ in their period of vegetation. At Kew the deodar is the first to put forth young leaves in spring ; the Lebanon usually follows a fort- night later; and the Algerian generally comes out last, after an interval of a few days. They may be correctly considered geographical races of the same species ; but for arboricultural purposes it is most convenient to rank them as distinct species.
CEDRUS LIBANI, Lebanon Cedar
- Cedrus Libani, Barrelier, Planta, Icon. 499 (1714); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iv. 2402 (1838); Ravenscroft, Pinet. Brit. iii. 247 (1884); Kent, Veitch’s Man. Coniferæ, 415 (1900).
- Cedrus patula, Koch, Dendrol. ii. 268 (1873).
- Pinus Cedrus, Linnæus, Sp. PZ. 1001 (1753).
- Larix Cedrus, Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. viii. No. 3 (1768).
- Larix patula, Salisbury, Trans. Linn. Soc. viii. 314 (1807).
- Abies Cedrus, Poiret in Lamarck, Dic. vi. 510 (1804).
Leading shoot of young trees erect or slightly bent, not pendulous. Branchlets not pendulous, glabrous or with slight short pubescence. Leaves up to 1¼ inch in length, broader than thick. Cones large and broad, ellipsoid, 3 to 4½ inches long, 1¾ to 2½ inches wide; scales 2 inches or more in width, with the claw inflected almost at a right angle.
Varieties
1. Var. argentea, Antoine et Kotschy, Iter. Cilic. No. 417. Trees with glaucous foliage, growing wild in the Cilician Taurus, intermingled with the ordinary form. This variety appears in cultivation, but is rarer than the glaucous form of C. atlantica.
2. Var. decidua, Carrière, Conif. 372 (1867). Leaves deciduous. A tree of this kind, slow in growth and bushy in habit, was obtained by Sénéclauze in 1851. Kent mentions one growing at Westgate near Chichester." Webster reports’ another, 65 feet high, growing on Lord Derby’s property in Kent, and said to be in perfect health, though from its bare appearance in winter it has often been supposed to be dying.
3. Var. tortuosa. On the lawn of a private house at Dulwich, belonging to the Dulwich College estate, there is a remarkable cedar, a photograph of which was sent to Kew in 1903. The stem and all the branches are spirally twisted.
The Lebanon cedar is variable in habit, and numerous supposed varieties are mentioned by Beissner, as nana,* a dwarf form ; stricta, narrowly pyramidal in habit ; pendula, with pendulous branches and branchlets; and viridis, with bright green shining foliage.
1 But on writing to Captain Norman, who was the authority for this, he tells me that the tree is now dead, and that in his opinion the deciduous habit, which was regular and unfailing, was due to constitutional weakness, caused by uncongenial surroundings, in proof of which he states that another tree at the same place raised from a seed taken from the same cone, was much more robust and showed no abnormal tendency.—(H.J.E.)
2 Hardy Coniferous Trees, 27 (1896).
3 A specimen of the dwarf cedar, only 4 feet high and of considerable age, is growing in grounds adjoining one of the oldest parks at Hemel Hempstead. The branches are flattened, horizontal, and very close together, giving the plant a dense, stiff appearance. —Gard. Chron. xix. 563 (1896).
