THE CEDAR OF LEBANON 91 



the tree seldom exceeds eighty feet in height, its 

 massive branches often spread from thirty to fifty feet 

 on all sides, the lower ones resting upon the ground, 

 though not rooting in it, thus forming a broad-based 

 pyramid densely clothed with leaves. The horizontal 

 lines of its upper boughs give it, in common with the 

 Stone Pine, an architectural character harmonising with 

 the columns and straight copings of classical buildings. 

 This was noticed by Martin, who is fond of introduc- 

 ing the Cedar into his pictures, particularly into those 

 of the terrace gardens of Babylon and Nineveh. 



Its stately outline and somewhat sombre hue 

 equally entitle the Cedar, alone perhaps among our 

 larger trees, to a position on the trim lawn, or near 

 the balustraded terrace of a mansion in the style of 

 the eighteenth centurv. 



The dwarf shoots that bear the tufted leaves con- 

 tinue to do so each spring for several years with 

 hardly any lengthening, and ultimately terminate 

 in either a pollen-bearing catkin or a cone. The 

 leaves are straight, nearly cylindrical, but tapering 

 towards their points, and about an inch long, and 

 they remain two years on the tree. On falling, 

 they do not decay for several years, so that a layer 

 of leaf-mould has been observed half an inch in 

 depth under a plantation fifteen years old, whilst that 

 under the Cedars on Mount Lebanon is a foot thick. 



The Cedar in England grows rapidly, making 

 annual rings from an eighth to half an inch across ; 

 but its wood is spongy, very apt to shrink and warp, 

 and by no means durable. It is of a reddish colour 

 and less resinous than that of the Larch. In its 



