Lebanon cedar

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Lebanon cedar
Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani) Large tree in a park in Morlanwelz in Belgium

Lebanon cedar ( Cedrus libani )
Large tree in a park in Morlanwelz in Belgium

Systematics
Class : Coniferopsida
Order : Conifers (Coniferales)
Family : Pine family (Pinaceae)
Subfamily : Abietoideae
Genre : Cedars ( Cedrus )
Type : Lebanon cedar
Scientific name
Cedrus libani
A.Rich. , 1823
Lebanon Cedar in Habitat in Lebanon
Branch with needles
Cones
bark

The Lebanon cedar ( Cedrus libani ) is a species of cedar ( Cedrus ) in the pine family (Pinaceae).

description

Habitus

The Lebanon cedar is an evergreen tree that reaches heights of 30 to 50 meters and can live to be over 1,000 years old. The chest height diameter can be up to two meters. It forms both short shoots and long shoots . The slim treetop is pyramidal in young trees, later it becomes rather misshapen. Old trees with a pyramidal crown also sometimes appear. The side shoots are almost at right angles from the main axis and are arranged in a spiral.

Foliage

The 1.5 to 3.5 centimeters long and about one millimeter thick leaves (needles) grow individually on the long shoots, and on the short shoots in clusters of 10 to 15 needles. Its outline is flattened square with stomata on all four sides. Two resin channels can be seen in the cross section, which run along the edge. The needles stay on the tree between three and six years.

bark

The bark of the young trees is smooth and gray-green in color. The bark of the old trees is longitudinally fissured and colored gray to dark gray. It is between 4.7 and 22.3 millimeters thick, but in extreme cases can make up up to 19% of the trunk volume.

Wood

The color of the yellowish to reddish brown heartwood stands out from the relatively wide, pale yellow to pale red sapwood . Normal resin canals are missing, but traumatic resin canals can occur. Freshly cut heartwood smells very aromatic. The density of air-dried wood with a wood moisture content of 15% is around 0.565 g / cm³.

Flowers, cones and seeds

The Lebanon cedar is single-sexed ( monoecious ) and becomes manable at around 30 years of age . The 3 to 5 centimeters long male cones can be seen as early as June and turn yellow in August. You can find them standing individually on the tips of four to five year old short shoots. The approximately 8 millimeters long, bluish green female cones do not appear until September. They stand vertically at the ends of short shoots. The small and thin seed scales stay open for one to two months. The cones need a good twelve months to mature after pollination in September to October. At the end of May / beginning of June the still green cones are 2 to 3 centimeters long. In November, the ripe cones are resinous and 7 to 11 centimeters long with a diameter of 4 to 6 centimeters. They are brownish to grayish brown in color, and the cone scales have a thin, dark red stripe. The center of the scales is greenish-purple in color. The cone shape varies between conical, cylindrical and obovate. The cones disintegrate in the following winter months and scatter their seeds in the process. The oblong triangular, somewhat compressed seed is 12 to 18 millimeters long, about 5.5 millimeters wide and 2.8 millimeters thick. The yellowish brown shiny seed wings are 2 to 2.5 centimeters long and just as wide. The thousand grain weight is around 83 grams.

Distribution and location

The Lebanon cedar grows along the Mediterranean coast of south and southwest Anatolia , in Lebanon , of which it is the symbol, on the heights of the Jebel Aansariye in Syria and on the island of Chrissi Island off Crete . The stocks are not geographically linked. There is also an isolated occurrence in Turkey near the Black Sea in Tokat Province . The total area of ​​the cedar forests in Turkey is 600,000 hectares. The originally natural range in Lebanon is around 500,000 hectares, which today is only 2,000 hectares due to overuse . The distribution area in Syria is estimated at around 1,000 hectares. The Lebanon cedar is extremely drought-resistant, but prefers locations with rainfall between 590 and 1300 mm per year. Calcareous soils are preferred. They are found at altitudes from 600 to 2,100 m. ü. NN. It forms mixed forests with the Cilician fir ( Abies cilicica ), pines ( Pinus spec.) And juniper species ( Juniperus spec.) Such as the stinking juniper .

Pests

Parasitic fungi and bacteria do not pose any real danger to the Lebanon cedar. The caterpillars of the butterfly Acleris undulana eat the needles of the Lebanon cedar and can cause baldness when mass reproduced. As an important secondary pests of are Small pine bark beetle ( Crypturgus cinereus ), Orthotomicus erosus and Melanophila delagrangei called. They occur on trees that have been attacked by honey mushrooms ( Armillaria ) or root sponges ( Heterobasidion ). As seed pests, squirrels ( Sciurus ) and wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea should be mentioned.

Forest fires do not pose a major threat, as the mostly tightly bonded litter of the cedar forests only allows for small smoldering fires .

use

Cedar of Lebanon

The Lebanon cedar is one of the most widely used tree species. The beautiful, durable, and easy-to-work wood of Lebanon cedar has been used for almost 5,000 years. In ancient times it was used to build palaces and temples. It was also a popular wood for shipbuilding and furniture production. Even today, wood is very much in demand for building, joinery and furniture wood. It is also suitable for pulp production . Before the Turkish Forest Protection Act of 1935 came into force, pine oil was extracted from cedar wood . It found use in folk medicine as a remedy for skin diseases and as an agent for treating wounds. The essential oil extracted from the heartwood is sold as cedar oil .

The Lebanon cedar is a popular, almost hardy park tree in the temperate zones. The largest and oldest cedar in Germany (planted around 1720, trunk circumference 5.20 meters) is in Weinheim .

Cultural meaning

The flag of Lebanon

The flag of Lebanon and the Lebanese coat of arms show a cedar tree in the center.

For the Phoenicians , the Lebanon cedar was considered the queen of the vegetable kingdom. Among other things, they used cedar wood for shipbuilding . The ancient Egyptians also used cedar wood for their shipbuilding, although it is believed that they imported it from Lebanon.

The cedar is mentioned several times in the Old Testament . In Psalm 92, a song for the Sabbath , it says: The righteous sprout like the palm tree, it grows like the cedar of Lebanon. ( Ps 92.13  EU ). The Israelite King Solomon is said to have honored the cedars in literary terms: He talked about the trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on the wall. ( 1 Kings 5,13  EU ). In addition, he bought them for the construction of the Jerusalem temple (1. Kings 5.20 EU and so on).

As a result of overexploitation that began in Phoenician times, only a few old trees can be found in the Lebanon Mountains , six of the densest forest areas are within the Chouf Cedar Reserve National Park , of which the forest islands near the villages of Barouk and Maaser ech-Chouf have the largest number of old trees . There is a conservation and reforestation program.

Rania Masri describes the symbolism in detail at a congress of MIT in 1995 , reproduced in an article in Europe: "About the importance and the fame of the Lebanon cedar and its treatment".

In Turkey, too, afforestation of 300 km² takes place annually.

In the meantime, the symbolism has also been picked up in Germany: at the suggestion of CIAG Marl, the city of Marl planted such a tree as part of the 7th Abraham Festival in 2007 in order to reaffirm peace between world cultures and religions.

Cyprus cedar ( Cedrus libani var. Brevifolia)

Systematics

The Lebanon cedar ( Cedrus libani A.Rich. ) Has the following synonyms: Cedrus libanitica (Trew) Pilger , Cedrus cedrus (L.) Huth , Pinus cedrus L. , Abies cedrus (L.) J.St.-Hil. , Picea cedrus (L.) Peterm. , Cedrus patula K. Koch .

There are two varieties:

  • Cedrus libani A. Rich. var. libani (Syn .: Cedrus libanotica Link , Cedrus libanensis Juss. ex Mirb. , Cedrus libani ssp. stenocoma (O.Schwarz) Greuter & Burdet ): It occurs from Turkey to Lebanon.
  • Cyprus cedar ( Cedrus libani var. Brevifolia Hook.f. , Syn .: Cedrus brevifolia (Hook.f.) Elwes & A.Henry ): This variety occurring in Cyprus and the North African Atlas cedar ( Cedrus atlantica (Endl.) Manetti ex Carrière ) are closely related to the Lebanon cedar and some botanists also refer to the Lebanon cedar as ( Cedrus libani ssp. Brevifolia (Hook.f.) Meikle or Cedrus libani ssp. Atlantica (Endl.) Batt. & Trab . ) assigned. The Cyprus cedar is only found in the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus.

Common names

The other German-language trivial names exist or existed for the Lebanon cedar : Ceder, Cederboum ( Middle High German ), Cziddernbom ( Middle Low German ), Czidernbom (Middle Low German), unfulet Holz ( Old High German ), ungefulith Holz (Old High German), Koderpawm. (Old High German), Koderpawm (Middle High German), Zederapfel (Middle High German), Zedern (Middle High German), Ziddern (Middle High German), Zidern (Middle High German), Zitterbom (Middle Low German) and Zedrangel (Middle High German).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Garden database (accessed on February 18, 2016).
  2. ↑ Chouf Cedar Reserve
  3. ↑ Biospere reserve information. Lebanon. Shouf. UNESCO
  4. ^ The Cedars of Lebanon: Significance, Awareness and Management of the Cedrus libani in Lebanon. Al Mashriq There the Lebanese René Moawad Foundation is mentioned, whose program combines reforestation with the symbolism of “preserving the peace and the national unity of the country by upholding the values ​​of freedom and by promoting social progress, economic development, contribute to cultural life and environmental protection. "
  5. ↑ 7th Abraham Festival in Marl EVENT Healing and peace form the main focus ( memento from March 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) 7th Abraham Festival in Marl, Evangelical Church District Recklinghausen
  6. ↑ a b c Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Cedrus libani. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  7. ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover 1882, p. 85. (online)

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further reading

  • Karl-Heinz Bernhardt: The cedar forests and the cedar in poetry and myth. In: Ders .: Old Lebanon. Koehler & Amelang publishing house, Leipzig 1976; Schroll Verlag, Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-7031-0438-4 , pp. 22-57.
  • M. Semaan, R. Haber: Conservation and Sustainability. In situ conservation of Cedrus libani in Lebanon. In: Acta horticulturae. No. 615, 2003, pp. 415-417.
  • SN Talhouk, S. Zurayk, S. Khuri: Conifer conservation in Lebanon. In: Acta horticulturae. No. 615, 2003, pp. 411-414.

Web links

Commons : Lebanon Cedar  - Collection of images, videos and audio files