Cedar (Cedrus) is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae. They are most closely related to the Firs (Abies), sharing a very similar cone structure. They are native to the mountains of the western Himalaya and the Mediterranean region, occurring at altitudes of 1,500–3200 m in the Himalaya and 1,000–2,200 m in the Mediterranean.Farjon, A. (1990). Pinaceae. Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera. Koeltz Scientific Books ISBN 3-87429-298-3.

Description

Taxonomy

There are five taxa of Cedrus, assigned according to taxonomic opinion to two to four different species:

• Deodar or Deodar Cedar, Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) G.Don. Western Himalaya. Leaves bright green to pale glaucous green, 25–60 mm; cones with slightly ridged scales.
• Lebanon Cedar or Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani. Mountains of the Mediterranean region, from Turkey and Lebanon west to Morocco. Leaves dark green to glaucous blue-green, 8–25 mm; cones with smooth scales; four varieties, which are treated as species by many authors:
• Lebanon Cedar Cedrus libani var. libani Mountains of Lebanon, western Syria and south-central Turkey. Leaves dark green to glaucous blue-green, 10–25 mm.
• Turkish Cedar Cedrus libani var. stenocoma (O.Schwarz) Frankis (syn. Cedrus libani subsp. stenocoma (O.Schwarz) Davis). Mountains of southwest Turkey. Leaves glaucous blue-green, 8–25 mm.
• Cyprus Cedar Cedrus libani var. brevifolia Hook.f. (syn. Cedrus libani subsp. brevifolia (Hook.f.) Meikle; Cedrus brevifolia (Hook.f.) A.Henry). Mountains of Cyprus. Leaves glaucous blue-green, 8–20 mm.
• Atlas Cedar Cedrus libani var. atlantica (Endl.) Hook.f. (syn. Cedrus libani subsp. atlantica (Endl.) Batt. & Trab.; Cedrus atlantica (Endl.) Manetti ex Carrière). Atlas mountains in Morocco & Algeria. Leaves dark green to glaucous blue-green, 10–25 mm.

The treatment of the Turkish, Cyprus and Atlas Cedars as varieties or subspecies of Lebanon Cedar is found primarily in botanical and floristic works,Schwarz, O. (1944). Anatolica. Feddes Repertorium 54: 26-34. while treatment as separate species is more widespread in popular horticultural use,Walters, W. M. (1986). European Garden Flora Vol 1. ISBN 0-521-24859-0. but also in some botanical works. The discrepancy in treatment derives largely from the very narrow gene base of trees in cultivation, which gives a false impression of distinctiveness of the taxa, not borne out when the wider range of variation found in wild trees is examined.Gaussen, H. (1964). Genre Cedrus. Les Formes Actuelles. Trav. Lab. For. Toulouse T2 V1 11: 295–320 The Deodar Cedar is more distinct and almost universally accepted as a separate species, though very rarely, it has also been treated as a subspecies of Lebanon Cedar, C. libani subsp. deodara (Roxb.) P.D.Sell, thus regarding the genus as comprising a single species.