410 



CEDRUS ATLANTICA. 



Carriers gives this year as the date of its introduction into Europe, 

 but there are trees in Great Britain whose age must apparently be 

 greater than the date of Manetti's catalogue would account for, and 

 which must have been raised from seeds previously gathered in 

 Algeria and sent to this country under the name of Cedrus Libani. 

 Since the establishment of a Forestry Department in Algeria by the 

 French Government, definite information respecting the habitat and 

 distribution of 0. atlantica has been obtained, and it is now known to 

 inhabit the Atlas mountains from the meridian of Greenwich to 

 long. 8 E. ; its western limit has not yet been determined ; its 

 vertical range is from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. It 

 does not spread continuously throughout this range but occurs at 

 intervals in forests that in places cover a considerable area ; this is 

 especially the case on Aures, near Batna ; at Ben Thaleb, in Babor 

 and Ta Babort where it is associated with Abies numidica, all in 

 the province of Constantine ; whilst in Algiers proper it is found 

 on the Djurdjurah range, on the hills above Blida and at Teniet- 

 el-Ahd, in places mixed with Yew and Juniper. 



As a tree for the park and landscape in Great Britain, Cedrus 

 atlantica is unquestionably the best of the three Cedars taken in all 

 its bearings, among which especial stress should be laid upon its 

 hardiness, its adaptability to many soils and situations, its rapid 

 growth, its pyramidal but not too formal outline, and lastly its 

 glaucous foliage which when heightened to a silvery whiteness, affords 

 a picture unsurpassed by any other coniferous tree in cultivation 

 whether standing alone or in contrast with the greenery of other trees. 

 Remarkable instances of this picturesque effect may be seen at Eastnor 

 Castle and Madresfield Court. The trees at the first-named place 

 were raised from seeds gathered by the late Earl Somers at Teniet- 

 el-Ahd, and it is a curious fact that all, or nearly all, the trees 

 raised from these seeds are of the aryentea variety, and being in 

 considerable numbers and distributed generally over the grounds they form 

 a marked feature of the place ; the whiteness of the trees seems to be 

 intensified with age, so that many of them are, at the present time, 

 of striking beauty. At Madresfield Court, the seat of Earl Beanchamp, 

 an avenue has been formed of Cedrus atlantica at a right angle to 

 another avenue of Abies nobilis, of which an illustration is given under 

 that species. All the trees in the Cedar avenue have highly glaucous 

 foliage and have grown with considerable uniformity as to height of 

 trunk and length of branches. The vista formed by them compares 

 favourably with the sombre gloom of an avenue of old Cedars of Lebanon.* 

 The timber of the Mount Atlas Cedar almost equals in quality and 

 value that of its Himalayan congener, and is consequently much in 



* Among the finest specimens of Cedrus atlantica in Great Britain are those at High 

 Elms, Beckenliam ; The Royal Gardens, Kew ; Hardwicke House, Bury St. Edmunds ; 

 Mulgrave Castle, Yorkshire ; Or ton Hall, Peterborough ; Penrhyn Castle, Bangor ; Bretby 

 Park, Derbyshire ; Adhurst St. Mary, Peterstield. In Scotland at Whittinghame, East 

 Lothian ; Cultoquhey, Murthly Castle, and Scone Palace in Perthshire. In Ireland at 

 Fota Island, Cork ; Carton, Co. Kildare ; Charleville and Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow ; 

 Haimvood, Co. Meath ; Curraghmore, Co. Waterford ; Baron's Court, Co. Tyrone. 



