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Cedar correctly refers to those trees belonging to the genus Cedrus in the coniferous 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.

They are trees up to 40-50 m (occasionally 60 m) tall with spicy-resinous scented wood, thick ridged or square-cracked bark, and broad, level branches. The shoots are dimorphic, with long shoots, which form the framework of the branches, and short shoots, which carry most of the leaves. The leaves are evergreen and needle-like, 8-60 mm long, arranged singly in an open spiral phyllotaxisIn botany, phyllotaxis is the arrangement of the leaves on the shoot of a plant. This can be alternate, opposite, whorled or in a spiral. In many cases, such as the celebrated case of the sunflower head, phyllotactic patterns involve the golden angle. on long shoots, and in dense spiral clusters on short shoots; they vary from bright grass-green to dark green to strongly glaucous pale blue-green, depending on the thickness of the white wax layer which protects the leaves from desiccation. The conesA cone (in formal botanical usage: strobilus plural strobili) is an organ on plants in the division Pinophyta ( conifers) that contains the reproductive structures. The familiar woody cone is the seed-producing female cone. The male cones, which produces are barrel-shaped, 6-12 cm long, and, as in Abies, disintegrate at maturity to release the winged seedThis writeup is about biological seeds; for the Buddhist metaphor, see bija. A seed is the ripened ovule of gymnosperm or angiosperm plants. The importance of the seed relative to more primitive forms of reproduction and dispersal is attested to by the sus. The seeds are 10-15 mm long, with a 20-30 mm wing; as in Abies, the seeds have 2-3 resin blisters, containing an unpleasant-tasting resinResin is a hydrocarbon secretion formed in special resin canals of many plants, from many of which (for example, coniferous trees) it is exuded in soft drops from wounds, hardening into solid masses in the air. It may be obtained by making incisions in th, thought to be a defence against squirrelSeveral, see text Squirrel is the common name for rodents of the family Sciuridae. In everyday speech in the English-speaking world it usually refers to members of the genera Sciurus and Tamasciurus''. These typical members of the family are tree squirrel predation. Cone maturation takes one year, with pollination in September-October and the seed mature the same time a year later.

There are five taxaA taxon (plural taxa is an element of a taxonomy, e. in the scientific classification in biology. Taxa form a hierarchical scheme, each being broken down into subtaxa. In traditional Linnaean taxonomy, taxa are ranked as follows, with some of the less wid of Cedrus, assigned according to taxonomic opinion to two to four different species:

• Deodar Cedar Cedrus deodara. 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 Mountains of southwest Turkey. Leaves glaucous blue-green, 8-25 mm.
  • Cyprus Cedar Cedrus libani var. brevifolia or Cedrus brevifolia. Mountains of Cyprus. Leaves glaucous blue-green, 8-20 mm.
  • Atlas Cedar Cedrus libani var. atlantica or Cedrus atlantica. Atlas mountains in Morocco & Algeria. Leaves dark green to glaucous blue-green, 10-25 mm.