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Pinacea
Cedrus libani
Specimen Size: 93.6ft tall, 42in in diameter.
Location: North of the Raitt Hall and South of the Art building at the western edge of the Quad.
Historical Background: Thick forests of this cedar once filled the landscape of Lebanon’s mountains. Multiple civilizations have exploited such forests over the centuries, depleting a significant portion of the tree’s populations. It has been used for ship building, construction of houses, medicinally for toothaches, and extracted to create essential oils for perfumes. It is a popular ornamental species in botanical gardens in temperate zones.
Non-Native
Native Range: Lebanon, Turkey, and adjacent countries
Identifying Features: This is the final true cedar on this tour, which has already touched on the Atlas and Deodar Cedars. There are only four true cedars, the last, the Cyprian Cedar, unfortunately does not exist on campus. The Cedar-of-Lebanon exhibits traits similar to its cousins seen earlier in the tour. It has 1-1 ¼” (2.5-3cm) needles growing in clusters of 10-15 and crowded on spurs (or growing alternately on leading twigs), each a dark green color. They are 3 angled, making up foliage on a large tree with a narrow rounded crown and cylindrical to irregular growth made up of spreading horizontal branches. To tell the difference between this and other cedars, observe in the cedar of Lebanon the horizontal to ascending branches (contrasted with the drooping branches of the deodar). It is also a darker green than the distinctly blueish Atlas cedar, and has rough cone scales where that tree has smooth ones.
Identifying Features In Depth:
Form: Narrow rounded crown and cylindrical growth beneath. Growth is more irregular in older trees and made up of spreading horizontal branches. Foliage is thick, and the trunk is stout and straight, sometimes multi stemmed.
Leaves: A dark green, the 3-angled 1-1 ¼” (2.5-3cm) needles stem from spurs in clusters of 10-15 or grow alternately on leading twigs.
Bark: dark gray in color becoming thick and furrowing into scaley plates. Twigs are abundant and spreading, usually mostly hairless, with many short spurs.
Reproductive Bodies: Cones are typical of Cedars, barrel shaped, from 3-4 ½” (7.5-11cm) tall and have a flat top and reddish brown color. They stand upright on branches, almost stalkless, and are very resinous. Composed of hard scales, they mature over two years and release broad paired winged seeds from the tree.
Native range of the Cedar of Lebanon in the Mediterranean. Map compiled by Wazen et. al in the Annals of Silviculture Research.
Below is the description found for this species on the original Brockman Memorial Tree Tour:
Historic Tree Tour Information: Two trees stand prominently in front of the Art building: the purpleleaf beech and the lofty Cedar of Lebanon. While there are many different kinds of trees whose wood qualities caused them to be commonly named as cedars, the Lebanese is one of just a few true cedars that grow in the Pacific Northwest. It is in the genus Cedrus, Latinized from the ancient Greek kedros, and grows not only in Lebanon but in Turkey and adjacent countries.
Deodar and Atlas cedars are its close kindred. These illustrious trees are not easily distinguished because the three species are often similar looking. The Art building tree, however, is a classic libani; it shows perfectly the attributes of the Lebanese: flushing forth early in bright green spring needles in contrast to the dark green needles that have over-wintered; growing with tabular branches, bearing sharp needles longer than those of Atlas cedar, shorter and more densely set than those of the Deodar. The bark is the darkest of all three. This specimen bears only male cones, but if it did make female ones they would be mostly at the top of the tree and larger than those of Atlas cedar. One reason Lebanese cedars are so rare is that they make fewer cones that have lower seed germination rates than the other species, and the seedlings grow slowly. The wood is hard and extremely durable and retains a delightful cedar fragrance for many years. An essential oil extracted from the wood is used in perfumes.
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