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For a long time cedar has admired people with natural power, beauty and healing power. It was called the tree-breadwinner, mystery, gift of the gods. Since ancient times, cedar trees have been considered sources of miraculous energy, which soothes and enlightens thoughts, awakens the soul and directs feelings to all the beautiful things that exist on Earth. For several thousand years, during which people watched him, he not only did not lose its value, but multiplied it, which was confirmed by many scientific discoveries.
Interesting facts about cedar
Cedar is one of those rare trees, all parts of which are used for food or medicinal purposes.
Cedar forests have such intense phytoncidal power that one hectare of such forest would be enough to clear the air in the whole city.
The ancient Sumerians revered cedar as a sacred tree and the most majestic specimens were given names. Cedar wood served as a measure of exchange and was often valued more than gold. The Sumerian god Ea was considered the patron saint of cedar, and no one could cut down this tree without the highest permission. These facts confirm the clay tablets found during the excavations, which date from the V – IV centuries. BC.They also had a description of what a cedar looks like.
The decoration of the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamen is made of cedar wood. For 3 thousand years, it not only did not deteriorate, but even retained its delicate delicate smell. Due to its qualities, cedar resin was one of the components of mummifying mixtures, and cedar oil helped to save the priceless ancient Egyptian papyrus to this day.
From the cedar wood, the ancients built their ships, and the wonderful gopher tree from which Noah built his ark is a cedar growing in the valleys of the Interfluve.
Description of the tree
Majestic cedar belongs to the genus of the Pine family. These are monoecious, evergreen trees up to 45 meters high, with a wide-pyramidal sprawling crown. They are long-lived and grow to 400–500 years old. Dark gray bark on young trees is smooth, on old ones - with cracks and scales.
Needles acicular, resinous, hard and prickly. Its color in different species varies from dark green to blue-green and silver-gray. Needles are collected in bunches. Cedar flowers, if you can call spikelets, up to 5 cm long with numerous small stamens and anthers. Cedar blossoms in the fall.
Cones grow on the branches one by one, arranged vertically, like candles. They ripen in the second or third year and crumble over the winter, scattering seeds in the wind. Once in favorable conditions, they germinate in 20 days.
Cedar seeds do not look like nuts. They are small, with wings for better settling downwind and inedible.
Cedar requires light, non-compacted and breathable soils. They are very sensitive to stagnant water. Prefer soils poor in lime. On mountain slopes made of limestone, they suffer from chlorosis and often die.
Feel better in open sunny places, but on richer soils they grow well in partial shade.
Area of growth
Places where cedar grows everywhere are the southern and eastern regions of the Mediterranean coast. Trees prefer mountainous areas with cool summers and mild winters. They are also found in the foothills of the Himalayas, in North-West Africa, in Lebanon, where cedar is one of the national symbols and is depicted on the national flag and coat of arms.
In Russia, cedar grows only on the southern coast of the Crimea, where it successfully acclimatized and gives abundant self-seeding. In other regions, it is found only in botanical gardens and nurseries. And that tree, which is called Siberian cedar, is in fact a representative of the genus Sosna and is correctly called Siberian, European or Korean pine. With cedars, these varieties are united by one family. But everyone's favorite and extremely useful "pine nuts" gives just the Siberian pine.
Cedar species
The cedar genus includes 4 species:
- Atlas - Cedrus atlantica;
- short coniferous - Cedrus brevifolia. Some sources refer this species to the Lebanese subspecies;
- Himalayan - Cedrus deodara;
- Lebanese - Cedrus libani.
The structure of cedar and pine cones is in many ways similar, therefore for a long time these species were considered identical. But recent scientific studies have refuted these data, and now in the classification of both types share.
Atlas
Atlas cedar grows on the slopes of the Atlas Mountains in Algeria and Morocco. In the natural environment is found at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level. The tree is majestic, spreading. The largest specimens reach 50 m in height, and their trunk diameter is 1.5–2 m. The needles are collected in bunches and have a bluish-green shade. The wood is resinous and fragrant, reminiscent of sandalwood by its smell. Atlas species tolerates frosts of up to -20 ° C and copes well with drought.
In African countries, cedar wood is used as fuel. The oil has good antiseptic properties and is widely used for cosmetic purposes.
Atlas cedar as a cultivated plant is grown in southern Europe, in the mountainous regions of the Caucasus and in Asian countries.
A bonsai tree that is grown everywhere as a garden or houseplant is Atlas cedar.
Himalayan
Himalayan cedar grows in eastern and southeast Asia, in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, in Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Pakistan. In the mountains, it is found at an altitude of up to 3500 m. The Himalayan species is not inferior to Atlas in height and circumference of the trunk, unlike it has a wider crown. The branches of an adult tree are parallel to the ground. Wood has a strong and strong aroma, it is light yellow with a red-brown core. The needles are rather soft, light, with a gray-gray shade.
Cones ripen more than a year, then crumble. Seeds are small, inedible, resinous. The Himalayan species better tolerates shading, although under natural conditions it occupies the upper tier of the forest. Separate copies live up to 1000 years.
Himalayan cedar is growing rapidly and is widely used in landscaping parks in southeastern Europe and the Crimea.
Lebanese
Lebanese cedar is not inferior to others in height and power of the trunk. The crown of a young conical tree, over the years, acquires a more flattened shape. The needles are blue-gray-green, live for 2 years, collected in bundles.
At the age of 25-28 years, the tree begins to bear fruit. Cones are formed every two years.
This variety is distinguished by its slow growth, tolerating short-term frosts of up to -30 ° C.Prefers well-lit areas, easy drought, can grow on poor soils, but does not tolerate their excessive moisture.
Lebanese cedar is valued for its light, soft, but at the same time strong red wood.
Types of cedar pine
Despite the fact that, according to the latest scientific data, the Canadian, Korean and Siberian species are only close relatives to the present cedar, the people still have familiar names. Canadian cedar belongs to the genus Tui family cypress.
Korean cedar pine
Korean, or Manchurian cedar, a coniferous tree from the genus Pine, is common in eastern Asia, in China, Korea, Japan, and in the Russian Far East. A tall, powerful tree has a dense cone-shaped crown and shallow roots. The needles are bluish-green, long, growing in bunches of 5 pieces each.
Cones ripen for one and a half years and fall off in autumn or early winter. Each cone contains many nuts. Korean kind of fruit once every few years.
Siberian cedar pine
Siberian cedar, or Siberian pine - an evergreen tree, in size only slightly inferior to its famous relative. It lives up to 500–700 years, it is distinguished by a thick, often multi-crown with thick branches. The needles are soft, long, with a bluish bloom. The tree builds up a powerful root system, and on light sandy soils it develops anchor roots, penetrating to a great depth. Compared with cedar shade-tolerant, with a short growing season.
The plant has male and female cones. They mature for a year and a half and fall at the beginning of autumn. Each cone contains up to 150 nuts. Up to 12 kg of pine nuts are produced from a single tree. Siberian cedar begins to bear fruit late, on average at 50–60 years of age.
Nutrition proteins and chipmunks, which take away seeds over long distances, take part in the tree's settlement.
Subtleties of growing cedar from the nutlet
Russian gardeners grow Siberian cedar pine, habitually calling it cedar. To have a fluffy Siberian beauty with fragrant needles and healing nuts on your site would not refuse anyone, but for modest possessions there are low-growing varieties that do not take up much space. We learn how to grow a cedar by purchasing a sapling in the nursery.
When choosing a place, it should be taken into account that with age, the need of a tree for sunlight only grows, so you should choose places without shading. If possible, purchase cedar seedlings with a closed root system. It is best to take root specimens, the root system of which did not have time to dry, so it is advisable to choose a seedling, which they have just dug. An earthen ball should have a size of at least half a meter in diameter and be packed in wet burlap and plastic bag.
How to plant a cedar pine seedling
Before planting, you must dig up the entire area of the garden where the seedlings are planned to be planted. Landing pits prepare a little more than an earthy ball. The distance between the pits should be at least 8 m. Young cedars are planted immediately in light soils, and sand and peat are added to heavier soils.
Put some soil on the bottom of the pit and plant a seedling, straightening the roots. The root neck should not be below ground level. If this happens, take out the seedling and pour some more earth on it. Then, next to the tree, they dig a peg and fill the pit with earth, slightly compacting it. Planting hole is watered abundantly, the ground in the near-circle wheel is mulched with coniferous litter, sawdust or chopped bark.
Within two weeks, while the seedling is taking root, it is watered in 2-3 days if there is no rain.
Cultivate the cedar from the nutlet
If the seedling in the nursery could not be found, and ripe pine nuts in a vase suggest a certain idea, feel free to choose the largest ones with the whole shell - try to grow the cedar from the seeds at home. The process of germinating nuts is not entirely simple, but very exciting:
- seeds are put into water and kept for 3 days, periodically replacing it;
- surfaced nuts are removed, and the rest stand for several hours in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate;
- disinfected seeds are placed in a wet substrate and stratified for at least 3 months;
- then nuts are soaked in potassium permanganate for a day and dried;
- sown in closed ground( greenhouse or film shelter) in the prepared soil, which contains 20 parts of peat, 2 parts of ash and 1 part of superphosphate to a depth of 2-3 cm;
- before the emergence of the grooves watered.
Seedlings are grown for 2 years indoors. After that, the shelter is removed.6–8 summer trees are ready for transplanting to a permanent place.
Care for young Siberian cedar is regular watering, mulching pristvolnogo circle, surface loosening in the absence of mulch and applying potash fertilizer three times per season. To do this, 20 g of potassium sulfate is bred in a bucket of water and watered every tree.
Two cultivars of cedar pine are popular among gardeners - “Record” and “Icarus.”Both are highly decorative, compact in size, relatively unpretentious and abundantly bear fruit.
Cedar, which is grown from a nutlet, will soon be one of the most beloved trees on the site. And when he grows up, and in his shadow you can relax, he will give you a lot of pleasant minutes, bringing coolness and refreshing air with a subtle resinous aroma.
