Name: Blue Atlas cedar
Latin Name: Cedrus libani subsp. atlantica ‘Glauca’
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Did you know?
The Blue Atlas cedar’s needles grow in clusters called whorls.
Information:
The Blue Atlas cedar is hard to miss. This evergreen conifer (a tree that keeps its leaves all year round) has needles in silvery blue tufts that shimmer in the light and look their best against a grey winter sky. Young trees are neat and pyramid-shaped, but with age they spread out into broad, flat-topped giants with sweeping, layered branches.
The tree comes from the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco, where summers are hot and dry. That is why it is drought tolerant once established. It became a favourite of Victorian gardeners and park designers, who loved its bold colour and grand shape, and you can still find it on lawns and in parks across the country. Its barrel-shaped cones sit upright on the branches, rather than hanging down like those of most conifers.
