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The cedar of Lebanon
A Marvel of Nature
“Behold, ... a cedar in LEBANON with fair braches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs... Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth”.The most striking features of LEBANON are his moderate climate and his natural beauty.
For, wherever one turns, one is deeply taken by subtle colors and by fascinating landscape that are emphasized by the sweet smelling fragrance hundred of species of seasonal wild flowers “... honey and milk are under your tongue, and the smell of your garments is like the smell of LEBANON” Song of Songs 4:11.
The Lebanese revered nature so much that they raised the age old and famous “CEDAR OF LEBANON” on their flag on May 23, 1926, to symbolize the greenery and natural beauty of their country!
Cedrus Libani Rich, is an evergreen of the family Pinaceae. It is not found only in LEBANON, but it was best known from this country because the Mount Lebanon chain used to be almost completely covered with cedars! Today, forests of Cedrus Libani grow in Cilicia, the Taurus Mountains, Cyprus and Morocco, although some of them are considered to be different races of the same species. In addition, many handsome specimens are cultivated in several countries of the world, notably in England and in France.
Cedrus Libani possesses an imposing trunk that may attain a height of 120 feet and a diameter of 9 feet. Such a trunk is often branching and having a dense crown with an inclined dark green head of characteristic flat growth in adult trees. Secondary branchlets are often ramified like a candelabra. Warberton, in his “Crescent and Cross”, described a Cedar of LEBANON with a trunk of 45 feet in circumference. Burckhardt speaks of twelve very ancient trees called the “Saints”. These had four, five, and even seven gigantic trunks” springing from the same base”, bearing, like American Sequoitas, leaves only at their very tops.
The bark of the Cedar of LEBANON is dark gray and exudes a gum of balsam which makes the wound so fragrant that to walk in a grove of cedars is an utmost delight. The wood is astonishingly decay resistant and it is never eaten by insect larvae. It is of a beautiful red tone, solid, and free from knots.
The terminal shoots are erect or slightly inclined. The tree blossoms in September or October, which is peculiar to the genus Cedrus among the conifers. It bears cones that require three years to mature. The cones is initially tiny and palegreen. The second year it reaches its full size that ranges between 3-4.5 inches in height and has a characteristic violet purple color. In the third season it turns into a rich brown and scatters its seeds, which are minute, considering the size of the tree. The cones are born upright on the upper side of the branches.
Cedrus Libani prefers a frost free climate and attains its best vigor on northerly and north-westerly slopes with inclinations ranging between 20 and 40 degrees. It has not much preference for soil type although it grows best on well-drained and neutral soils. It stands a fairly wide range of temperatures that vary from -4 degree F to 90 degree F, with an average yearly relative humidity of 53 %. The existing groves of cedars receive a yearly amount of rain and snow-fall that range between a minimum of 92.12 inches depending on the latitudinal influence.
Many tree species, such as the Maple, Acer tauricolum; the Wild prine, Prunus ursinus; and the high Juniper, Juniperus excelsa are associated with dedar forests in Lebanon. The most prominent are oak trees such as the Evergreen Oak, Quercus Calliprinus; Cyprus Oak, Q. infectoria; Turkey Oak, Q. cerris; Cedar Oak, Q. cedrorum; and Lebanon Oak, Q. pinnatifida.
Other trees ad shrubs exist as associated species, or as neighboring forms that outline the cedar forests. Some of these are the Juniper, Juniperus oxycedrus; the Mountain Ash, Sorbus torminalis; The Medlar, Cotoneaster nummularifolia; and the Cilician fir, Abies cilicia. The most characteristic species of the underbrush are the Lebanon Vetchling, Lathyrus Libani; the Lebanon Crane’s Bill, Geranium Libanotica and numerous Astragalus, Lotus and Rosa species.
Cedrus Libani has been famous in Lebanon since early written history. The earliest reference is the Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates back at least four thousand years (Leonard Translation, slightly modernized):
“On the Mountain the cedars uplift their abundance. Their shadow is beautiful, is all delight. Thistles hide under them, and the dark prick-thorn, sweet smelling flowers hide under the cedars ... In all directions, ten thousand miles stretches that forest ...”From the above, one gets the impression that the cedar forests were extensive at that time.
One reason for this might be found in the description of the monster that guards the forest:
“Who could dare enter? Khimbaba’s below is storm wind, His mouth is fire, his snort is death! Enlil has placed him there To the terror of men, for warding the cedars. And whoever enters the forest is suddenly faint”. Gilgamesh, of course, kills the monster commenting in passing: “I will set my hands to it and fell the cedars, I will make myself a sounding name”Many writers throughout history have been highly impressed with the majestic aspects of the cedars, and have referred to them metaphorically to indicate such qualities as strength, beauty, endurance, grandeur, majesty, dignity, lofty stature and noblesse. For instance, in the beautiful “Song of Songs” in the Bible, the poetic description that begins “My beloved is white and rubby, the chiefest among ten thousand ...,” finishes with “... His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.”
Unfortunately, when poetry clashes with economics, the latter usually wins. Throughout history, cedar wood, and such byproducts as cedar oil, have proven to be worth far more money than living trees, however beautiful they were. At the time of Gilgamesh, Egypt has already cut (without replanting) large amounts of cedar for ship construction and for export. They contined the same tradition. Cedar cutting prevailed under various administrations, up through the time of the Ottomans. They finished off most of the remaining forests by using cedar wood as fuel for railway engines. They generally bypassed more easily obtainable oak wood, since cedar (because of its soil content) burned much better. The presently remaining cedar groves were spared mainly because their regions were relatively difficult to reach.
In the Bible, there are more than eighty three Scriptures describing, hailing, disdaining, glorifying, and even sanctifying the cedars of Lebanon.
“The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the Cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted.” “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree: He shall grow like a cedar of Lebanon”.The Scriptures by Ezekiel illustrate beautifully how these lofty kings of the forest were used by prophet orators to symbolize and typify worldly might, power, and glory. Thus one obrains a fair idea of the crowning insolence of Sennacherib, the invader, when he boasted in the year 700 B.C.: “I am come up the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof”.
In his book, “The Natural History of the Bible”, Tristan says of the cedars: “... Everyone who has seen these noble trees recognizes the force of the majestic imagery of the prophets. With their gnarled and contorted stems and scaly bark, with their massive branches, with their dark green leaves shot with silver in the sunlight, as they stand a lovely group in the stupendous mountani amphitheater, the assert their title to the monarchs of the forests”.
To end this unfulfilling account of Cedrus Libani, it seems only right to refer to Khalil Gibran’s book “A tear and a smile” where he says: “My love is as the cedars, beloved, and the elements shall not conquer it.”
Ricardus M. El-Haber Secretary General The Friends of Nature, NGO
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