1 66 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND TREES. 
diKection, at first ascending, but the part furthest from the 
trunk becoming almost horizontal. It is chiefly at the extremity 
of the branches that the branchlets and leaves are produced. 
The evergreen leaves last for three, four, or five years, and 
are of needle-shape, varying in length from a little less to a little 
more than an inch. They are produced in a similar manner to 
those of the Larch — in tufts that are arranged spirally round 
dwarf shoots, mostly on the upper side of the branchlets. The 
male flowers are to be found at the extremity of branchlets 
which, though six or seven years old, are very short, their 
development having been arrested. The solid, purple-brown 
cones are only three or four inches long, broad-topped, and 
with a diameter of about half the length ; the scales thin and 
closely pressed together ; they are at first greyish-green, tinged 
with pink. The development and maturity of these cones takes 
two or three seasons, and they remain on the tree for several 
years longer. The seeds are angular, with a wedge-shaped 
wing. 
The trees do not produce cones until they are from twenty- 
five to thirty years old ; but they may be a century old before 
producing either male or female flowers. 
The trunk is covered with thick, rough, deeply fissured bark. 
On the branches the bark is smooth, and peels off in thin flakes. 
The Cedar, in its native habitat, produces admirable timber, but 
that of trees grown in our own country is described by Loudon 
as “ reddish-white, light and spong}-, easily worked, but very apt 
to shrink and warp, and by no means durable.” For these 
reasons the tree is grown almost solely for ornament. 
The name Cedar is supposed to be derived from the Arabic 
kedroum, or kcdre (power), and has reference to its majestic 
proportions and strong timber. 
