Atlas Cedar

Given ample space and time, atlas cedar trees can grow up to 60 feet tall and spread up to 40 feet wide. This growth does not come quickly, though. Atlas cedar trees grow very slowly, with only about a one-foot increase annually. The oldest recorded tree is in Morocco, with a lifespan of around 700 years! Along with their blue-green needles, atlas cedars have a distinctive bark. A brown and silver polish runs up the trunk in a fissured pattern as it grows older. In this tree, you will find numerous rows of holes. These holes are drilled in by sapsuckers, a species of birds that enjoy feasting on tree sap. The bark also produces an aromatic oil that acts as a natural deterrent for insects, specifically known as the moth-repellent, and even found to have calming properties and health benefits. Due to its anti-insect aroma, atlas cedar wood is used heavily to make chests and other types of furniture, as well as closets – to protect our clothes from insects.

Surrounding their needle-like leaves are cones, both male and female types, making the atlas cedar what we call a ‘monecious’ evergreen because both sexual organs are found on one tree. If you look closely at the cones on an atlas cedar tree, you will find that there are two distinct types; the male cones are smaller and finger-like, displaying a green color when they are young and becoming brown as they get older. The female cones look like an egg, purple when young and brown when they mature.

This particular atlas cedar sits on the edge of Rowan’s Glassboro Campus and is filled with male and female cones. Its bark is silvery and the needles are quite pretty in the sunlight. The female cones can be seen on the higher branches while also filling the branches that hover over the slopey hill and flow onto the street. Although it is a bit high, if you look closely at the female cones the majority of them are brown and a few are even breaking open. The male cones show a lot of variation, with some bright and green and others brown that have already fallen from the branch. You might be wondering why the cones are breaking and why they are falling, and that’s just part of the natural life cycle! Perhaps when you think of trees in the fall, the main changes they undergo are the colors of their leaves turning red from green. However, in evergreens, the leaves don’t completely fall off in the winter. Instead, gymnosperms experience changes in major reproductive processes. 

Depending on what season you come to visit this tree, you can observe very different reproductive changes happening. In the late summer, new cones are produced on the tips of the branches, with male cones filling the lower branches and female cones on the high branches. As summer becomes early fall, the male cones release their pollen in order to pollinate the female cones. The pollen lands on the scales of the female cones and eventually is pulled inside by a sap-like liquid released from the female cones. After male cones release their pollen, and as winter approaches, male cones break down and fall from their branches. If you are visiting this tree during the fall or winter season, you will find several golden male cones covering the tree bed. Female cones, on the other hand, will remain on the tree for another 2-3 years, become dormant through the winter, and changing from green to purple to brown as the seeds inside the cone mature. After 3 years, the female cone will become brown, the scales will begin to open and the cone will look as if it is breaking open in order to release the seeds. The seeds produced by atlas cedar cones have a paper-like wing, allowing them to be carried by the wind and dispersed far from the mother tree.

As graceful and strong as these evergreens are, atlas cedar trees are marked as endangered due to climate change, human use, and forest fires. There is currently international interest to use the Atlas cedar trees as a reforestation species in degraded ecosystems, thus growing their population while also utilizing their strength as a species. Rowan University’s campus is abundant with trees, and if you have come across this Atlas cedar, I hope it has inspired you to explore the other amazing trees that surround it and share your knowledge with the world.

These resources are a product of Dr. Sara Wright’s Plant Diversity course in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Department. My name is Israt Jashim, and I will earn my Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences and Bachelor of Arts degree in Computing & Informatics in 2024. I plan to pursue a career in Biotechnology. You can read more about me and the Atlas Cedar below.