Bio Diversity Park

Common Name : Deodar, Himalayan Cedar

Hindi Name : देवदार | Scientific Name : Cedrus deodara
Family : Pinaceae
Uses : It is a medicinal tree traditionally important and well mentioned in traditional system of medicine of India, Pakistan, China, Korea etc. It is a popular medicinally active tree, traditionally used in the form of decoction, syrup, oil, powder, and extract alone or in combination with other herbs for the management of different ailments viz. asthma, ulcers, bone fractures, sprains rheumatism, boils, leprosy, etc. Various parts of this plant are used in traditional system of medicine for the treatment of different ailments such as fever, inflammation, pain, ulcer, apoptosis, spasmodic, hyperglycaemia, infections, insomnia, disorder of mind, disease of skin and blood. Studies have indicated its anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-hyperglycaemia, antispasmodic, insecticidal, anti-apoptotic, anti-cancer, immunomodulatory, molluscoid, anxiolytic and anticonvulsant properties. Deodar is an important structural timber tree. Its wood is highly valuable and extensively used for building, railway sleepers, carriage and railway wagon work and other purposes for which durability is required. It is used in house building, beams, floorboards, door and window frames, furniture and general carpentry. It also produces quality plywood.
Native: Western Himalayas in Eastern Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan, North-Central India, South Western Tibet and Western Nepal.
General Description:

It is a huge evergreen tree with 65m in height having horizontal branchlets and a long needle-like leaves. Cedar bark appears reddish-brown with diagonal and vertical fissures. Though it is a monoecious plant, its male and female flowers are grown on separate branches in the autumn. Cedar cones are typically less than one inch in size and can be oblong to bell-shaped to rounded. Its wood is bitter in taste. It possesses impressive insecticidal property due to which giant conifer aphids did not affect the growth of the plant. Deodar differs from other species of Cedrus in terms of morphology, geographical distribution, altitudinal range, and ecology. It is a large evergreen coniferous tree reaching 40-50 m tall, exceptionally 60m, with a trunk up to 3m diameter. It has a conic crown with horizontal branches and drooping branchlets. The leaves are needle-like, mostly 2.5-5cm long, occasionally up to 7cm long, slender (1mm thick), borne singly on long shoots, and in dense clusters of 20-30 on short shoots; they vary from bright green to glaucous blue-green in colour. The female cones are barrel-shaped, 7-13cm long and 5-8cm broad, and disintegrate when mature (in 12 months) to release the winged seeds. The male cones are 4-6cm long, and shed their pollen in autumn.