Cedrus 457 
» 
‘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 Bartk, and the third is above Maasir, 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 Madasir. The Barik 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 Barfik 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 Barak 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 <Adzes cilicica, Juniperus excelsa, and J. fetidissima; and is 
occasionally mixed with Pius Larzcio. 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 (1881). Dr. Stapf informs us that 
Luschan also saw the cedar in this province. 
2 Cf. Stapf, Beitrdge Flora Lycien, Carien, u. Mesopotamien, 2 (1885). 
3 Asie Mineure, ii. 496 (1860). 
4 Reise Cilicischen Taurus, 58, 370 (1858). 
8 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. 
