2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Himalayan cedar (lat. Cedrus deodara) - one of four plant species of the genus Cedar (lat. Cedrus) of the family Pine (lat. Pinaceae). Hindus respect the mighty Cedar, considering it a "divine tree", and the ancient Indian sages preferred to live in the cedar forest, which gave them the strength to perform very difficult meditation practices. The aromatic wood of Cedar protects against the invasion of harmful insects. Cedar resin gives wood the ability to resist microbes that provoke rotting, and therefore Cedar is used by people in the construction of houses on the water. The tree has healing powers that have been used by Ayurvedic medicine since ancient times.
What's in your name
The Latin name of the tree "Cedrus deodara" combined two ancient languages: the name of the genus "Cedrus" is rooted in the ancient Greek language, and the specific epithet "deodara" is based on the influence of Sanskrit, which translates into a combination of two words - "divine tree" …
However, in many languages the tree is called the Himalayan cedar, emphasizing the birthplace of the plant giant.
Description
The Himalayan cedar, like the Lebanese cedar, prefers to live at an altitude of one and a half to more than three thousand meters above sea level, and therefore chose the western Himalayas and southwestern Tibet for his place of residence. This coniferous evergreen mighty tree rises to the heavens to a height of forty to sixty meters, increasing the thickness of the trunk to three meters.
The cone-shaped crown of the tree is formed by horizontally located branches, from which leafy branches hang. Dimorphic shoots are represented by long shoots with single needle-like leaves and short shoots covered with dense bundles of needle-leaves, numbering twenty to thirty needles in one bundle. The very thin and soft leaves range in length from two and a half to five centimeters with a thickness of one millimeter. The color of the needles is from bright to gray-green.
Himalayan cedar is a monoecious plant. Male buds four to six centimeters long shed pollen in the fall, fertilizing barrel-shaped female buds. After twelve months, female cones grow from seven to thirteen centimeters long and five to nine centimeters wide. When the seeds are fully ripe, female cones open their scales, releasing winged seeds.
Healing abilities
The wood, bark and needles of the Himalayan cedar are rich in a long list of useful components, and therefore are actively used by physicians to treat diseases and maintain human health.
The aroma of Himalayan cedar is not to the taste of harmful insects, and therefore the essential oil obtained from the inner wood, people use to protect themselves and protect domestic animals (camels, horses, cows) from insects, lubricating their feet with cedar oil.
Cedar nut oil also has antifungal properties, and the bark and stems are endowed with astringent properties. For people with respiratory problems (asthma, acute respiratory infections), doctors recommend meeting the dawn, sitting under the Himalayan cedar. Oil is used in aromatherapy, perfumery and in the manufacture of insecticides.
Other uses
Himalayan cedar is very decorative, and therefore is actively used to decorate parks and gardens in areas where winter frosts do not fall below minus 25 degrees Celsius.
Its durability, resistance to decay causing bacteria and the beauty of its texture make Himalayan Cedar a popular material for buildings, especially religious temples. The area around the temples is also planted with cedars, making the parishioners feel like the ancient sages who lived in the cedar forests.
Cedar's resistance to rotting is used in the construction of houseboats that can be seen in Asian countries.
The durability of Himalayan Cedar wood, however, does not negate its fragility. Therefore, for the manufacture of such furniture as, for example, chairs, Cedar wood is not suitable. Although in the colonial era in India and Pakistan, bridges were built from the timber of the Himalayan cedar.
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