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Columbia Encyclopedia entry: cedar
Cedar, common name for a number of trees, mostly coniferous evergreens. The true cedars belong to the small genus Cedrus of the family Pinaceae (pine family). All are native to the Old World from the Mediterranean to the Himalayas, although several are cultivated elsewhere as ornamentals, especially the cedar of Lebanon (C. libani), which appears in the Lebanese flag. This tree, native to Asia Minor and North Africa, is famous for the historic groves of the Lebanon Mts., frequently mentioned in the Bible. The wood used in building the Temple and the house of Solomon (1 Kings 5, 6, and 7) may, however, have been that of the deodar cedar (C. deodara), native to the Himalayas. It has fragrant wood, durable and fine grained, and is venerated by the Hindus, who call it Tree of God. The name cedar is used (particularly in North America, where no cedars are native) for other conifers, e.g., the juniper (red cedar), arborvitae (white cedar), and others of the family Cupressaceae (cypress family). Several tropical American trees of the genus Cedrela of the mahogany family are also called cedars. True cedars are classified in the division Pinophyta, class Pinopsida, order Coniferales, family Pinaceae.
Wikipedia search results for: Cedar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cedar is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae. They share a very similar cone structure with the Firs and were traditionally thought to be most closely related to them, but molecular evidence supports a basal position in the family Liston A., D.S. Gernandt, T.F. Vining, C.S. Campbell, D. PiƱero. 2003. Molecular Phylogeny of Pinaceae and Pinus. In Mill, R.R. : Proceedings of the 4th Conifer Congress. Acta Hort 615: Pp. 107-114. Wang, X.-Q., Tank, D. C. and Sang, T. : Phylogeny and Divergence Times in Pinaceae: Evidence from Three Genomes. Molecular Biology and Evolution 17:773-781. Available online . They are...more »
Columbia Encyclopedia search results: cedar
Results 1 - 10  of 62
  • Cedar Falls

    Cedar Falls, city (1990 pop. 34,298), Black Hawk co., N Iowa, on the Cedar River; inc. 1854. It developed as a milling center in the late 19th-century after the coming of the railroad; its nam...

  • Cedar Rapids

    Cedar Rapids, city (1990 pop. 108,751), seat of Linn co., E central Iowa, on the Cedar River; inc. as a city 1856. The second largest city in Iowa, it is named for the surging rapids in the ri...

  • Cedar Creek

    Cedar Creek, small tributary of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, N of Strasburg, N Va. It was the scene of a Civil War battle (Oct. 19, 1864) in which Union general P. H. Sheridan defea...

  • Chetumal

    Chetumal, city (1990 pop. 94,158), capital of Quintana Roo State, E. Mexico. Chetumal is a major import center and free port as well as an export point for the hardwoods of the region, includi...

  • East Lansing

    East Lansing, city (1990 pop. 50,677), Ingham co., S central Mich., a suburb of Lansing, on the Red Cedar River; inc. 1907. The city was first known as College Park, but was renamed when it wa...

  • arborvitae

    Arborvitae [Lat.,=tree of life], aromatic evergreen tree of the genus Thuja of the family Cupressaceae (cypress family), with scalelike leaves borne on flattened branchlets of a fanlike appear...

  • Waterloo, city, United States

    Waterloo, city (1990 pop. 66,467), seat of Black Hawk co., NE Iowa, on the Cedar River; inc. 1868. Originally a center for sawmills and flour mills, Waterloo is a trade and industrial center i...

  • Iowa, river, United States

    Iowa, river, 329 mi (529 km) long, rising in the lakes of N Iowa and flowing SE to the Mississippi River, SE Iowa; Cedar River (300 mi/483 km long) is its chief tributary. A power dam crosses ...

  • Menomonie

    Menomonie, city (1990 pop. 13,547), seat of Dunn co., W Wis., on the Red Cedar River; platted 1859, inc. 1882. Once a lumber town, it is a trade center in an area of poultry and dairy farms. T...

  • Natural Bridge

    Natural Bridge, small village, Rockbridge co., W Va., in the Shenandoah valley; founded 1774. Nearby is the famous Natural Bridge over the gorge of Cedar Creek. It is a limestone arch 215 ft (...

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