PLATE XXXIITHE CEDAR OF LEBANON
In the Old Testament we read that when Solomon was building the temple he sent to Hiram, King of Tyre, for stores of goodly Cedar wood from the forests of Lebanon. And Hiram sent the wood by sea in floats, or rafts, as much Cedar and timber of Fir as King Solomon wanted. This was used to cover the stonework of the temple, within and without.
There is a delightful fragrance in these planks of Cedar wood which is said to come from the sap or resin with which the tree abounds. Cedar oil is made from this resin, and it was long in use as a safeguard against the attacks of insects, which dislike the smell.
The Cedar (1), as we see it in this country, rarely rises to the dignity of a large tree; it is most familiar to us as a stunted, bushy tree with a thick, short trunk divided into more than one main stem. Short branches rise from these stems, and at first these point upwards to the sky, but after the branch has grown some length it bendsbackward and stands straight out from the tree. From a distance the tree looks as if the branches grew in layers, or shelves, with a clear space between each shelf. You will always recognise a Cedar by these layers of branches densely covered with gloomy green leaves. It is said that in countries where much snow falls the Cedar branches always remain upright, because the tree knows that it could not carry the great weight of snow that would gather on its leafy shelves if they grew flat as in warmer lands.
The Cedar is frequently found growing in churchyards, beside the Yew tree, and a dark, gloomy tree it is. The trunk is covered with a thick rough bark of a pale greenish brown colour, but on the branches this bark is thin and flaky. The Cedar grows very slowly. The tree may be a hundred years old before it produces any seeds, though you sometimes find seedless cones on Cedars that are twenty-five to thirty years old.
The leaves (2) are evergreen, and usually remain on the twigs for four or five years. They grow in tufts, like those of the Larch, on the upper side of the twig; but each leaf is needle-shaped, as in the Scotch Pine, and is much harder than the soft Larch leaves. In colour they are a dark bluey green.
The Cedar has two kinds of flowers. Those that bear the stamens (3) appear at the end of short, stunted little twigs which have taken manyyears to grow. The stamens are in slender catkins, about two inches long, and are a pale reddish yellow colour.
The seed flowers (4) grow in cones, and the Cedar of Lebanon has very curious cones. They grow in pairs, and are like fat green eggs, sitting upright on the branch, with the blunt end uppermost. These cones look quite solid, because the scales are so tightly pressed together. You can scarcely see where one begins and the other ends. It takes two or three years before these scales unclose, and during that time the cones (5) become a rich, dark purple. When the scales unclose, the three-cornered seeds are blown out by the wind, and each seed is furnished with a wing to float it away on the air. The Cedar cones remain on the tree several years after all their seeds have fallen.
The timber of the Cedars grown in this country is of little value; the tree is usually planted for ornament. But in warmer lands, where there are large forests of mighty Cedar trees, the wood is sold for a great deal of money.
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