Located alongside the Main Walk this cedar is displaying attractive, immature fruits.
One of four species of evergreen conifers from Asia and the Mediterranean, Cedrus atlantica (Atlas cedar) can reach 40m in height in its native Atlas Mountains. It has been grown in the gardens of northern Europe since the 1800’s, though the exact date of introduction is unclear, with reports suggesting dates ranging between the 1840’s to the 1860’s. It can vary in shape from conical to flat-topped, and can have either a single stem, or be multi-stemmed. The needles can be either held individually at the base of long stems, or in dense clusters at the tip of a shoot. Erect pollen cones are produced on short shoots, and quickly fall after releasing pollen in autumn, while female cones are produced terminally on short shoots, and it is these immature cones which can be admired at present. These will mature to form woody cones over two or three years. This species is endangered in the wild, and is threatened by habitat destruction, over-exploitation for wood, grazing, and climate change. In the selection ‘Glauca’ the needles have an attractive blue-green colour.