cedar

Any of an Old World group of coniferous trees belonging to the pine family. The cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) grows to great height and age in the mountains of Syria and Asia Minor. Of the historic forests on Mount Lebanon itself, only a few groups of trees remain. (Genus Cedrus, family Pinaceae.)

The name ‘cedar’ is also applied to species of several genera of other coniferous trees in several families – for example, some junipers, cypresses, and redwoods.