Deodar Cedar

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iDeodar Cedar

Deodar Cedar

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Pinaceae
Genus:	Cedrus
Species:	C. deodara

Binomial name

Cedrus deodara
(Roxb.) G. Don

The Deodar Cedar Cedrus deodara (also known as Himalayan Cedar, or Deodar) is a species of cedar native to the western Himalaya in eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Kashmir, northwest and north-central India, southwesternmost Tibet and western Nepal, occurring at 1500-3200 m altitude. It is a large evergreen coniferous tree reaching 40-50 m tall, exceptionally 60 m, with a trunk up to 3 m diameter. It has a conic crown with level branches and drooping branchlets.

The leaves are needle-like, mostly 2.5-5 cm long, occasionally up to 7 cm long, slender (1 mm thick), borne singly on long shoots, and in dense clusters of 20-30 on short shoots; they vary from bright green to glaucous blue-green in colour. The female cones are barrel-shaped, 7-13 cm long and 5-8 cm broad, and disintegrate when mature (in 12 months) to release the winged seeds. The male cones are 4-6 cm long, and shed their pollen in autumn.

Deodar Cedar is a very elegant ornamental tree, much planted in parks and large gardens for its graceful drooping foliage, though it can only be grown where winters are mild, never falling below about -25°C (USDA hardiness zone 8-9, with selected origins hardy to zone 7). The most cold-tolerant trees originate in the northwest of the species' range in Kashmir, and Paktia province, Afghanistan.

It is the National tree of Pakistan. The specific name deodara is derived from a Latinisation of the Sanskrit name, 'devadara', meaning timber of the gods.