Deodar

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Deodar

Deodar

Conservation status

Least concern

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 Cedrus deodara (also known as Himalayan Cedar, or Deodar cedar) 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.

The Deodar 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 common in cultivation on the west coast of North America as far north as Vancouver, British Columbia. There also are many in western Europe, around the Mediterranean Sea, and around the Black Sea.

The specific name deodara is derived from a Latinisation of the Sanskrit name, 'deva daru', meaning timber of the gods.

It is the National tree of Pakistan.