Atlas cedar
| Cedrus atlantica | |
|---|---|
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| Atlas cedar (Ifrane, Morocco) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Pinophyta |
| Class: | Pinopsida |
| Order: | Pinales |
| Family: | Pinaceae |
| Genus: | Cedrus |
| Species: | C. atlantica |
| Binomial name | |
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Cedrus atlantica (Endl.) Manetti ex Carrière |
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| Synonyms | |
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C. libani subsp. atlantica (Endl.) Batt. & Trab. |
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C. libani subsp. atlantica (Endl.) Batt. & Trab.
Cedrus atlantica, the Atlas cedar, is a cedar native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco (Middle Atlas, High Atlas), to the Rif, and to the Tell Atlas in Algeria. A majority of the modern sources treat it as a distinct species Cedrus atlantica, but some sources consider it a subspecies of Lebanon cedar (C. libani subsp. atlantica).
Fully grown, Atlas cedar is a large coniferous evergreen tree, 30–35 m (rarely 40 m) tall, with a trunk diameter of 1.5–2 m. It is very similar in all characters to the other varieties of Lebanon cedar; differences are hard to discern. The mean cone size tends to be somewhat smaller (although recorded to 12 cm, only rarely over 9 cm long, compared to up to 10 cm in C. brevifolia, and 12 cm in C. libani, though with considerable overlap (all can be as short as 6 cm). The Cedrus atlantica leaf length (10–25 mm) is similar that of C. libani subsp. stenocoma, on average longer than C. brevifolia and shorter than C. libani subsp. libani, but again with considerable overlap.
Atlas cedar forms forests on mountainsides at 1,370 to 2,200 m, often in pure forests, or mixed with Algerian fir - Abies numidica, Juniperus oxycedrus, holm oak - Quercus ilex, and Acer opalus. These forests can provide habitat for the endangered Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus, a primate that had a prehistorically much wider distribution in northern Morocco and Algeria.
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