Cedrus 4^ 7 



" To the best of my knowledge there are five groves of cedars in Lebanon. 

 The best known one, and that containing the oldest trees, is one in northern 

 Lebanon above Bsharri. [Plate 127, from a photograph by Dr, Van Dyck, shews 

 one of these trees.] The condition of that has, I think, not changed much in thirty 

 years. I am sure that no new trees have grown up in it. A few of the oldest 

 ones have lost branches, or have entirely perished. The grove is a favourite resort 

 in summer for Syrians and for foreigners. A few hours south and west of Bsharri is 

 the village of Hadeth-el-Jubbeh, or Hadeth, as it is often called, though there are a 

 number of Hadeths in Lebanon. Within a half-hour to the south of Hadeth is a 

 fine grove of young trees which, I think I have been informed, was started and has 

 been preserved by a Greek or Maronite bishop. The remaining three groves are 

 near each other, on the western slope of the main ridge of Lebanon, the most 

 northern one being a few miles south of the Beirut-Damascus road as it crosses the 

 ridge. The most northern of the three is above the village of Ain-Zahalta, the next 

 is above Barflk, and the third is above Madsir, each being known, by the name of 

 the village near it, being also the property of that village. The smallest grove, but 

 that containing the oldest trees, is that of Maisir. The Bdr6k grove is the most 

 extensive of all the five in Lebanon, and contains many young trees in all stages of 

 growth. Most of the trees are upon a very steep slope, but in the upper part of the 

 grove there are various knolls and hollows, affording a few charming spots for 

 camping. I am sorry to say that this fine grove suffers much from being cut. The 

 people of BS.rlik obtain from it roof-beams and wood for fuel, and I am informed that 

 they are discussing selling a large part of it to be felled for pitch. I have failed to 

 find a single large tree in the Bdrlik grove which has not been cut off, with the result 

 that several branches have taken the place of the principal stem. The ordinary 

 Arabic name of the cedar is ' Arz,' but the natives of the villages near the three 

 southern groves call the tree ' Ubhul' " 



The cedar is also found in the Taurus and Anti-Taurus ranges in Asia Minor, 

 extending from the province of Caria ' in the west to near the frontier of Armenia in 

 the east. It forms a considerable part of the coniferous forest, which, in a few 

 scattered localities, covers the mountains between 4000 and 7000 feet. It is usually 

 associated with Abies cilicica, Juniperus excelsa, and J. foetidissima ; and is 

 occasionally mixed with Pinus Laricio. In Lycia, dense woods of cedar were 

 observed by Luschan ^ in the Baba Dagh and between Zumuru and the Bulanik 

 Dagh. The tree, however, appears to attain its maximum development in the 

 Cilician Taurus, where there are fine forests of great extent in the Bulgar Dagh, 

 which have been visited by Tchihatcheff,* Kotschy,* and W. Siehe.' The latter 

 states that the climate in which the cedar grows is a severe one, the snow lying 

 several feet deep on the ground for about five months of the year. He describes 



1 Collected in Caria by Pinard, according to Boissier, Flora Orientalis, v. 699 (1 88 1). Dr. Stapf informs us that 

 Luschan also saw the cedar in this province. 



* Cf. Stapf, Beitrdge Flora Lycien, Carien, u. Mesopotamien, 2 (1885). 



* Asie Mituure, ii. 496 (i860). 



< Reise Cilicischen Taurus, 58, 370(1858). 



' Gartenflora, 1897, pp. 182, 206. Siehe has sent seed from the Cilician Taurus to various places, and I have two 

 vigorous young trees raised from them. 



