THE CEDAR OF LEBANON 



lous and the leaves longer than those of the Cedar 

 of Lebanon; the cones are the same size, but the 

 cone-scales and seeds are of the same form as those 

 of the Atlas Cedar. 



Seeds of the Deodar were first sent to Great Britain 

 by the Hon. Leslie Melville in 183 1, and sown at Mel- 

 ville in Fifeshire, at Dropmore, and elsewhere. In 

 1 84 1 it was introduced in quantity. The finest trees 

 recorded are at Bicton where one in 1902 measured 

 80 feet tall and 1 1 feet 8 inches in girth and another 

 90 feet tall and 9 feet 1 inch in girth of trunk. There 

 are many others in England more than 80 feet tall. 

 In Ireland are specimens approximately as fine; but 

 in Scotland, where it is only hardy in the warmer 

 parts of the country, the tallest recorded are less than 

 60 feet. There are varieties known by such descrip- 

 tive names as albo-spica, crassifolia, fastigiata, nivea, 

 robusta, verticillata, and viridis. 



These four Cedars, differing but slightly one from 

 another yet occupying five distinct geographical 

 areas, present a most interesting problem in plant 

 distribution. Northern Syria and Asia Minor form 

 one botanical province so that the Lebanon groves, 

 though so widely disconnected from the Taurus 

 forests, can be regarded in no other light than as 

 outlying members of the latter. Sir Joseph Hooker 

 in the paper already referred to suggests that in pre- 

 9i 



