deodar cedar
Cedrus deodara
  • FAMILY: PINACEAE
  • ALTERNATE COMMON NAME:
  • LEAVES: dark greenish-blue; clustered on ends of spur shoots
  • FLOWER:
  • FRUIT: cones 3-5”, upright, shatters at maturity
  • TWIGS: drooping; twigs pubescent
  • BARK: dark gray to brown; deeply furrowed
  • FORM: medium to large evergreen; pyramidal crown
  • HABITAT: urban habitats, not naturalized
  • RANGE: native to Himalaya mountains; grows along Gulf coast to California
  • USES: commercially harvested in the Himalayas; ornamental here
  • Best Recognition Features:
    1. large upright cones
    2. tufts of needles on spur shoots

    NOTE: This is a true cedar. Because Solomon built his temple out of cedar, missionaries named local trees “cedar”, thus all areas of the world have cedar trees.