CEDAR. 



[36] 



Family: THE CONIFERS [Translator's note: now PINACEAE]. 

 Reproductive system: MONCECY, MONADELPHY. 



The cedar of Lebanon, Pinus cedrus, Linn., [Translator's note: now Cedrus 

 libani] is one of the most remarkable trees in nature. Its longevity, great height, and the 

 magnificence of its foliage made it famous in remotest antiquity. Its trunk is straight, the 

 boughs are arranged in tiers and are covered with numerous fine, closely-set evergreen 

 leaves. The top or summit of the tree always points and is inclined toward the north. It's 

 about a hundred feet tall; the trunk sometimes is thirty feet in circumference. 

 Nevertheless it grows slowly during its first eight or ten years, but afterwards it grows 

 very rapidly. Duhamel Dumonceau planted a cedar at Denainvilliers [Translator's note: 

 his family estate, about 80 km. south of Paris] in 1743. In 1753 the circumference of the 

 tree measured no more than two feet four inches. When I measured that same tree in 

 1822, its circumference was nine feet eight inches. The flowers are monoecious; the male 

 flowers form sessile catkins made up of scales. On their undersurface there are two 

 sessile anthers in one compartment. The female flowers are arranged in an oval catkin 

 that turns into a cone made up of thin scales that cover two monospermous seeds, each 

 terminating in one wing. The fruits or cones are positioned vertically on the branches. 



FLOWERS: in May. 



RANGE: The mountains of Lebanon, Syria, and mountains in Armenia. 



NOMENCLATURE. Some authorities believe the word cedrus is derived from two 

 Greek words that mean to bum and fragrant, because the wood emits a pleasant aroma 

 when it burns. 



