Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica)

SW of Edens Hall, at the north edge of the Bird Sanctuary Map

Native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco, these true cedars are widely planted throughout Europe and North America, where they thrive and become very large trees. The record for Washington State currently is held by a tree located in Puyallup; it is over 100 ft. high and nearly 15 ft. in circumference. Most planted of the Atlas cedars is a blue cultivar (Cedrus atlantica 'glauca'); our example may or may not be 'glauca', but an undoubted glaucus example stands nearby, in the Bird Sanctuary.

Most trees called "cedars" in North America are actually members of the cypress family. This one is not. True cedars are members of the pine family, easily identified by their distinctive, upright cones. The sprawling habit of Cedrus atlanticus generally limits it to parks, open fields, and college arboretums.