47 8 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



gradually scarcer, and in such places its companions may be Pinus Gerardiana and 

 Quercus Ilex. 



The deodar can attain a very great size.' Thomson ' mentions one near Nachar, 

 on the Sutlej, that was 35^ feet in girth. Dr. Stewart measured one at Kuarsi in the 

 valley of the Ravi that was 44 feet at 2 feet, and 36 feet at 6 feet from the ground ; 

 another about 900 years old was 34^ feet in girth. Minniken records a tree at 

 Punang, in Bashahr, that was 150 feet high and had a girth of over 36 feet, the 

 clean bole being 45 feet long. Dr, Schlich measured a tree in the Sutlej valley 

 250 feet high with a girth of 20 feet. 



In the Dumrali block in the Tehri-Garhwal leased forests a fallen tree was 

 unearthed 90 feet long and over 7 feet in diameter, which had been dead for at least 

 100 years, and was, when it fell, probably 550 years old. When cut up it gave 460 

 metre-gauge sleepers. I am indebted to Mr. J. H. Lace for the illustration (Plate 

 139) representing a group of deodars in the Himalayas. 



A great section in the corridor of the forest school at Dehra Diin is 23 feet 

 in girth, with 665 annual rings. The number of annual rings to the inch varies 

 much according to the elevation and rainfall, but averages about 8 to 12, though 

 in the Kuram valley Bagshawe found an average of about 21. 



As an ornamental tree there are few in the world that can compare with 

 the deodar. From the Lebanon cedar and the Atlas cedar it differs somewhat in 

 appearance, but even to an expert, in the collections of Europe, it is not always easy 

 to recognise to which of the three species a given specimen belongs. Roughly, 

 however, the deodar is distinguished by means of its drooping branches and its 

 longer needles. Two well-marked varieties are recognisable in the forests, the 

 one with dark green, the other with silvery foliage. The latter variety, well known 

 in European collections, is found wild in ravines at a comparatively low level. 

 Gamble saw it in Jaunsar, in the upper Dharagadh, in ravines at from 4000 to 6000 

 feet, and believes that the variety comes true from seed. 



Deodar trees are often lopped for litter, and if the leading shoot is not damaged, 

 the tree grows on well enough ; when the leading shoot is cut or damaged, the tree 

 shows a great tendency to form others ; and frequently several erect shoots, with the 

 appearance of young trees, may be seen growing up straight from its branches. The 

 deodar may be almost said to produce coppice shoots, for, as Brandis remarks, if 

 only a small branch be left to a stump, it will send out shoots and grow well, 

 eventually, perhaps, forming a new tree. 



In close forests deodars flower and seed rather sparsely ; for good seed bearers 

 we have to look to the old trees on dry ridges, where they can get a large 

 amount of sunlight. When the seeds are ripe the cones break up and the scales 

 fall ; the winged seeds are then carried by the wind for a short distance. It may be 

 interesting to record the result of the examination of an average cone by Mr. B. B. 

 Osmaston in October 1900. He found in the top part 25 scales, with 50 bad seeds ; 



Webber, in Forests of Upper India, 331 (1902), says : " I have seen deodars 40 feet in girth and 250 feet high, the 

 age of which must be 1000 years or more " ; and Pakenham Edgworth informed Bunbury that he had measured deodars 46 

 feet in girth. Cf. Lyell, Life of Sir C. J. F. Bunbury, ii. 238 (1906). 



' Western Himalaya and Tibet, 64 (1852). 



