This Week's Mystery Plant

Quick, all you experts on world politics: What do Canada, Equatorial Guinea, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Mexico, Norfolk Island, and Turks and Caisos Island all have in common? This is too easy: they all have flags which prominently feature a plant. This week we are focusing on the flag of Lebanon.

You may have seen lots of these flags in the news, recently, during a number of huge rallies protesting the involvement of Syria in Lebanon's internal politics. Politics aside, the flag is quite arresting: brilliant red and green. The green part, of course, features a cedar---a TRUE cedar.

Now there are only three species of cedars in the world, and they all belong to the botanical genus Cedrus, which is a member of the pine family. These three species are similar in growth habit, and are rather difficult to distinguish. "Deodar cedar" and "Atlas cedar" are the other members of this trio, all of which are sometimes seen in the United States planted in cemeteries, parks or other city settings. They are all characterized by needle-like foliage, along with male and female cones on the same tree. The female cones are ovoid or somewhat lemon-shaped, and erect on the branches. All the true cedars are native to the old world, although they are also planted widely in cultivation. (Our familiar "red cedar" is a distant relative, in the genus Juniperus, which is a member of the redwood family.)

Our plant of the week has been prized since prehistory as a source of lumber, featuring beautifully grained, strongly fragrant wood. This wood is durable and very resistant to decay, and produces an aromatic oil, sometimes used medicinally. Fully grown trees may be up to 120' tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 10'. Mature individuals have a dark, rough bark, and often take on a rounded or flat crown, with prominently spreading lower branches. The scented wood is commonly used as veneer, and for lining cabinetry and wardrobes. It is native to southern Turkey, western Syria, and most of Lebanon, where it previously grew in extensive, deep forests, as one of the most characteristic tree species of the Middle East. Sadly, human occupation and over-use of the tree has left it in only a shadow of its original range, except in Turkey, where it is still fairly common; in Lebanon, it occurs in naturally remaining stands in only about 12 localities. Fortunately, extensive preservation efforts there are now maintaining natural populations in the wild. (Photo by John Nelson.)

Photo by John Nelson