Cedrus – cedar (Latin)
Native range: Mediterranean and W. Himalayas
Leaves:
- needle-like
- thin and rigid
- dense whorls 0.5-2.5” long on short shoots
- some short shoots grow out and become long shoots
Cones:
- monoecious
- male cone upright, 4” long, ripening in fall
- female cone upright, waxy at first, then deciduous, 6” long
- scales thin, rounded & rounded tightly together
- matures in 2nd or 3rd year
- seeds w/ wings
Other notes:
- trees to 250 ft.
- pyramidal when young, flat-topped when old
- evergreen
- NOTE: lots of species are commonly called “cedar” but this genus contains the true cedars