View source for Cedrus

{{Short description|Genus of plants (coniferous trees)}}
{{Redirect|Cedar (genus)|other trees with the name|List of plants known as cedar}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Cedar
| oldest_fossil = Albian
| image = View from the Barouk Forest 1.JPG
| image_caption = Lebanon cedar in [[Al Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve]] in [[Barouk]], Lebanon
| taxon = Cedrus
| authority = [[Christoph Jakob Trew|Trew]]
| type_species = ''[[Cedrus elegans]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Ora Willis Knight|Knight.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}

'''''Cedrus''''', with the common English name '''cedar''', is a genus of [[conifer]]ous [[tree]]s in the plant family [[Pinaceae]] (subfamily Abietoideae).  They are [[native plant|native]] to the mountains of the western [[Himalayas]] and the [[Mediterranean region]], occurring at altitudes of {{convert|1500-3200|m|abbr=on}} in the Himalayas and {{convert|1000-2200|m|abbr=on}} in the Mediterranean.<ref name=farjon>Farjon, A. (1990). ''Pinaceae: Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera''. Koeltz Scientific Books. {{ISBN|3-87429-298-3}}.</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Cedrus atlantica2.jpg|upright|thumb|Foliage of Atlas cedar]]

''Cedrus'' trees can grow up to 30–40&nbsp;m (occasionally 60&nbsp;m) tall with spicy-resinous scented [[wood]], thick ridged or square-cracked [[Bark (botany)|bark]], and broad, level branches.  The shoots are dimorphic and are made up of long shoots, which form the framework of the branches, and short shoots, which carry most of the leaves.  The [[leaf|leaves]] are [[evergreen]] and needle-like, 8–60&nbsp;mm long, arranged in an open spiral [[phyllotaxis]] on long shoots, and in dense spiral clusters of 15–45 together on short shoots; they vary from bright grass-green to dark green to strongly glaucous pale blue-green, depending on the thickness of the white wax layer which protects the leaves from desiccation.  The [[Conifer cone|seed cones]] are barrel-shaped, 6–12&nbsp;cm long and 3–8&nbsp;cm broad, green maturing grey-brown, and, as in [[Fir|''Abies'']], disintegrate at maturity to release the winged [[seed]]s.  The seeds are 10–15&nbsp;mm long, with a 20–30&nbsp;mm wing; as in ''Abies'', the seeds have two or three resin blisters, containing an unpleasant-tasting [[resin]], thought to be a defence against [[squirrel]] predation.  Cone maturation takes one year, with pollination in autumn and the seeds maturing at the same time a year later.  The [[pollen]] cones are slender ovoid, 3–8&nbsp;cm long, produced in late summer, and shed pollen in autumn.<ref name=farjon/><ref name=idsy>Frankis, M. & Lauria, F. (1994).  The maturation and dispersal of cedar cones and seeds. ''International Dendrology Society Yearbook'' 1993: 43–46.</ref>

==Classification==
Cedars share a very similar cone structure with the [[fir]]s (''Abies'') and were traditionally thought to be most closely related to them, but molecular evidence supports a basal position in the family.<ref name=Liston>Liston A., D.S. Gernandt, T.F. Vining, C.S. Campbell, D. Piñero. 2003. "Molecular Phylogeny of Pinaceae and Pinus". In Mill, R. R. (ed.): ''Proceedings of the 4th Conifer Congress. Acta Hort'' '''615''': pp. 107-114.</ref><ref name=Wang>Wang, X.-Q., Tank, D. C. and Sang, T. (2000): "Phylogeny and Divergence Times in Pinaceae: Evidence from Three Genomes". ''Molecular Biology and Evolution'' '''17''':773-781. Available [https://thecedrus.com/ online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007152928/https://thecedrus.com/ |date=2018-10-07 }}</ref>

===Phylogeny===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=1 |Phylogeny of ''Cedrus''<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stull |first1=Gregory W. |last2=Qu |first2=Xiao-Jian |last3=Parins-Fukuchi |first3=Caroline |last4=Yang |first4=Ying-Ying |last5=Yang |first5=Jun-Bo |last6=Yang |first6=Zhi-Yun |last7=Hu |first7=Yi  |last8=Ma |first8=Hong |last9=Soltis |first9=Pamela S. |last10=Soltis |first10=Douglas E. |last11=Li |first11=De-Zhu |last12=Smith |first12=Stephen A. |last13=Yi |first13=Ting-Shuang |display-authors=et al. |year=2021 |title=Gene duplications and phylogenomic conflict underlie major pulses of phenotypic evolution in gymnosperms |journal=Nature Plants |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-021-00964-4 |volume=7 |issue= 8|pages=1015–1025 |doi=10.1038/s41477-021-00964-4|biorxiv=10.1101/2021.03.13.435279 |pmid= 34282286|pmc= |bibcode= 2021NatPl...7.1015S|s2cid=232282918 |doi-access=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stull |first1=Gregory W. |display-authors=et al. |year=2021 |title=main.dated.supermatrix.tree.T9.tre |publisher=Figshare |doi=10.6084/m9.figshare.14547354.v1 |url=https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Gene_duplications_and_genomic_conflict_underlie_major_pulses_of_phenotypic_evolution_in_gymnosperms/14547354 |doi-access=}}</ref>
|- 
| style="vertical-align:top|
{{clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:80%;
|label1=''Cedrus''
|1={{clade
  |1=''[[Cedrus brevifolia|C. brevifolia]]'' <small>(Hooker) Elwes & Henry</small>
  |2={{clade
    |1=''[[Cedrus deodara|C. deodara]]'' <small>(Roxburgh ex Don) Don</small>
    |2={{clade
      |1=''[[Cedrus atlantica|C. atlantica]]'' <small>(Endlicher) Manetti ex Carrière</small>
      |2=''[[Cedrus libani|C. libani]]'' <small>Richard</small>
       }}
     }}
   }}
}}
|}

===Taxonomy===
[[File:cedararz.jpg|right|thumb|A cedar in Lebanon]]
[[File:Moroccan Atlantic cedar.jpg|right|thumb|upright|A cedar in the Moroccan Atlas]]

The five [[taxon|taxa]] of ''Cedrus'' are assigned according to [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] opinion to between one and four species:<ref name=farjon/><ref>Gymnosperm database [http://www.conifers.org/pi/ce/index.htm ''Cedrus''].</ref><ref>NCBI Taxonomy Browser [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Tree&id=3321&lvl=3&p=mapview&p=has_linkout&p=blast_url&p=genome_blast&lin=f&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlock ''Cedrus''].</ref><ref>Flora of China [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=105979 vol. 4]</ref><ref>Qiao, C.-Y., Jin-Hua Ran, Yan Li and Xiao-Quan Wang (2007): Phylogeny and Biogeography of ''Cedrus'' (Pinaceae) Inferred from Sequences of Seven Paternal Chloroplast and Maternal Mitochondrial DNA Regions. ''Annals of Botany'' '''100(3)''':573-580. Available [https://archive.today/20120529113829/http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/100/3/573 online]</ref><ref name=farjon1>Farjon, A. (2008). ''A Natural History of Conifers''. Timber Press {{ISBN|0-88192-869-0}}.</ref><ref>Christou, K. A. (1991).  The genetic and taxonomic status of Cyprus Cedar, ''Cedrus brevifolia'' (Hook.) Henry. Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Greece.</ref><ref>GRIN Taxonomy for Plants [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?2217 ''Cedrus''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120152047/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?2217 |date=2009-01-20 }}.</ref><ref>Güner, A., Özhatay, N., Ekim, T., & Başer, K. H. C. (ed.). 2000. ''Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands'' 11 (Supplement 2): 5–6.  Edinburgh University Press.  {{ISBN|0-7486-1409-5}}</ref><ref>Eckenwalder, J. E. (2009). ''Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference''. Timber Press {{ISBN|0-88192-974-3}}.</ref><ref>Sell, P. D. (1990).  Some new combinations in the British Flora. ''Watsonia'' 18: 92.</ref> The oldest known fossil of ''Cedrus'' is ''Cedrus penzhinaensis'' known from fossil wood found in Early [[Cretaceous]] ([[Albian]]) sediments of [[Kamchatka Peninsula|Kamchatka]], Russia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Blokhina|first1=N. I.|last2=Afonin|first2=M.|date=2007|title=Fossil wood Cedrus penzhinaensis sp. nov. (Pinaceae) from the Lower Cretaceous of north-western Kamchatka (Russia)|journal=Acta Paleobotanica|language=en|volume=47|pages=379–389|s2cid=54653621}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Image !! Name !! Common name!! Synonyms !! Distribution !! Description!! Varieties
|-
|[[File:Cèdre du Chélia 10 (Algeria).jpg|120px]] ||''[[Cedrus atlantica]]'' ||Atlas cedar ||''C. libani'' subsp. ''atlantica''||[[Atlas Mountains]] in [[Morocco]] and [[Algeria]] ||Foliage is dark green to glaucous bluish green, 10–25&nbsp;mm. ||
|-
|[[File:Cedrus libani var brevifolia kz1.jpg|120px]] ||''[[Cedrus brevifolia]]'' ||Cyprus cedar or Cypriot cedar ||''C. libani'' subsp. ''brevifolia'', ''C. libani'' var. ''brevifolia'' ||[[Troodos Mountains]] in [[Cyprus]]||Foliage is glaucous bluish green, 8–20&nbsp;mm. ||
|-
|[[File:Himalaya-Zeder-Zapfen.jpg|120px]] ||''[[Cedrus deodara]]'' ||Deodar, deodar cedar, or Himalayan cedar || – ||Native to Western [[Himalaya]] ||Foliage is brightly green to palely glaucous green, 25–60&nbsp;mm; cones have slightly ridged scales.||
|-
|[[File:Bürkliplatz - Cedrus libani 2012-03-21 16-27-47 (P7000).JPG|120px]] ||''[[Cedrus libani]]'' ||Lebanon cedar, cedar of Lebanon, or Lebanese cedar ||– ||Native to [[Mediterranean region|Mediterranean]] mountains in the [[Near East]], [[Lebanon]], and [[Turkey]] ||The cones have smooth scales. ||
* [[Cedrus libani#Subspecies|''C. libani'' var. ''libani'']]: [[Lebanon cedar]], mountains of [[Lebanon]], western [[Syria]], and southern-central [[Turkey]]; foliage is dark green to glaucous bluish green, 10–25&nbsp;mm.
* ''C. libani'' var. ''stenocoma'': Turkish cedar, mountains of southwestern [[Turkey]]; foliage is glaucous bluish green, 8–25&nbsp;mm.
|-
|}

==Ecology==
Cedars are adapted to mountainous climates; in the Mediterranean, they receive winter precipitation, mainly as snow, and summer drought, while in the western Himalaya, they receive primarily summer monsoon rainfall and occasional winter snowfall.<ref name=farjon/>  While no members of ''Cedrus'' are native to the  Americas, members of ''Juniperus'' and [[Cupressaceae]] are native and are called by the common name of "cedar".

Cedars are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species including [[pine processionary]] and [[turnip moth]] (recorded on deodar cedar).{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

==Use==
[[File:Cedrus atlantica-Glauca-Bonsai.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Glaucous ''Cedrus atlantica'' trained as a [[bonsai]]]]
[[File:Cedrus wood.jpg|left|thumb|Cedar wood has a woody, slightly sweet scent, and a distinctive colour and grain.]]

Cedars are very popular [[ornamental tree]]s, and are often cultivated in [[temperate]] [[climate]]s where winter temperatures do not fall below circa −25&nbsp;°C.  The Turkish cedar is slightly hardier, to −30&nbsp;°C or just below.  Extensive mortality of planted specimens can occur in severe winters when temperatures fall lower.<ref name=odum>Ødum, S. (1985). "Report on frost damage to trees in Denmark after the severe 1981/82 and 1984/85 winters". Hørsholm Arboretum, Denmark.</ref> Locales with successful longaeval cultivation include the Mediterranean region, Western Europe north to the [[British Isles]], southern [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]], and southern and western [[North America]].

Cedar wood and [[cedarwood oil]] are natural repellents to moths,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Burfield|first1=Tony|title=Cedarwood Oils|url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~nodice/new/magazine/cedar/cedar.htm|website=www.users.globalnet.co.uk|access-date=24 August 2016|date=September 2002}}</ref> hence cedar is a popular lining for [[hope chest|cedar chests]] and closets in which [[woolen]]s are stored. This specific use of cedar is mentioned in ''[[The Iliad]]'', Book 24, referring to the cedar-roofed or lined storage chamber where Priam went to fetch treasures to be used as ransom. The ancients made cedarwood oil from [[Lebanon cedar]], a true cedar of the genus ''Cedrus'',  However, the species used for modern cedar chests and closets in North America is ''[[Juniperus virginiana]]'', and cedarwood oil is now typically derived from various [[junipers]] and [[cypresses]] (of the family ''[[Cupressaceae]]''). Cedar is also commonly used to make [[shoe trees]] because it can absorb moisture and deodorize.

Many species of cedar are suitable for training as [[bonsai]]. They work well for many styles, including formal and informal upright, slanting, and cascading.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Walston|first1=Brent|title=Cedars for Bonsai|url=https://www.evergreengardenworks.com/cedars.htm|website=evergreengardenworks.com|access-date=8 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529033650/http://www.evergreengardenworks.com/cedars.htm|archive-date=29 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
Some authorities consider ''Cedrus'' the only "true cedars" <ref>{{cite journal|title=''Cedrus'' - The True Cedars|journal=Journal of Arboriculture |year=2000|volume=26|issue=4|url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/13688|publisher=U.S. Forest Service|last1=Pijut|first1=Paula M.}}</ref> and discourage use of the name for other genera without an additional qualifier, such as "white-cedar".<ref name=kelsey>Kelsey, H. P., & Dayton, W. A. (1942). ''Standardized Plant Names'', second edition. American Joint Committee on Horticultural Nomenclature. Horace McFarland Company, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Thuja Genus (arborvitae)|url=https://conifersociety.org/conifers/thuja/|publisher=American Conifer Society|quote=several species are widely known as cedar but, because they are not true cedars (Cedrus), it has been recommended to call them red-cedars or white-cedars.}}</ref> Nevertheless, the name "cedar" has been applied (since about 1700<ref name=oed/>) to [[List of plants known as cedar|other trees]], such as the North American ''[[Thuja plicata]]'', commonly called "western red cedar", and ''[[Juniperus virginiana]]'', commonly called "red cedar" or "eastern red cedar".  In some cases, the botanical name alludes to this usage, such as the genus ''[[Calocedrus]]'', meaning "beautiful cedar" (also known as "incense cedar").  Several species of genera ''[[Calocedrus]]'', ''[[Thuja]]'', and ''[[Chamaecyparis]]'' in the [[Pacific Northwest]] having similarly aromatic wood are referred to as "false cedars" .<ref>{{cite web|url=https://oregonstate.edu/trees/conifer_genera/false_cedars.html|title=False Cedars (Calocedrus, Thuja, Chamaecyparis)|publisher=Oregon State University}}</ref>  In Australia ''[[Toona ciliata]]'' has long been known as red cedar, in furniture and as the tree, even though it belongs to the Meliaceae or Mahogany family.

===Etymology===
Both the Latin word ''cedrus'' and the generic name ''cedrus'' are derived from [[Greek language|Greek]] κέδρος ''kédros''.  Ancient Greek and Latin used the same word, ''kédros'' and ''cedrus'', respectively, for different species of plants now classified in the genera ''Cedrus'' and ''Juniperus'' ([[juniper]]).  Species of both genera are native to the area where Greek language and culture originated, though as the word ''kédros'' does not seem to be derived from any of the languages of the [[Middle East]], it has been suggested the word may originally have applied to Greek species of juniper and was later adopted for species now classified in the genus ''Cedrus'' because of the similarity of their aromatic woods.<ref>Meiggs, R. 1982.  Trees and Timber in the Ancient Mediterranean World.</ref>  The name was similarly applied to [[citron]] and the word [[citrus]] is derived from the same root.<ref name=andrews>Andrews, A. C.  1961.  Acclimatization of citrus fruits in the Mediterranean region.  ''Agricultural History'' 35: 35–46.</ref>  However, as a loan word in English, cedar had become fixed to its [[bible|biblical]] sense of ''Cedrus'' by the time of its first recorded usage in [[Anno Domini|AD]]&nbsp;1000.<ref name=oed>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''.</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of plants known as cedar]]
* [[Cedars of God]] in the [[Kadisha Valley]] of [[Bsharri]], [[Lebanon]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Cedrus}}
* [https://phonebookoftheworld.com/imperialcedar Cedar of Meudon]: A tree in Meudon near Paris that has fascinated people through time

{{Woodworking}}
{{Plant classification}}
{{Acrogymnospermae classification}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q128550}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Cedrus| ]]
[[Category:Conifer genera]]
[[Category:Ornamental trees]]
[[Category:Plants used in bonsai]]
[[Category:Wood]]