The Blue atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica glauca) has a distinctively bluish colored foliage.The trunk of the tree usually remains straight with branches radiating laterally. Older trees tend to become flat-topped. The branches of the tree tend to droop, slightly. The bark is brown and smooth, eventually forming a scaly, plate-like surface. The blue color to the leaves is due to a wax deposit which occurs on many species of conifers which grow in areas frequented by severe drought. Wood sweet-scented, oily, durable, uniform and easily-worked. Symbol of fertility.

See also description of Atlas cedar:http://marquandpark.org/657-atlas-cedar/

Specimen Provenance:

Common name: Blue Atlas Cedar

Species Origin: Atlas mountains of North Africa, Algeria, Morocco.

New Jersey Status: USDA not listed

Habit: up to 59 feet tall; crown broad, irreular; rounded or flat in old trees. Principal branches long, broad with drooping tips.

Habitat: Zones 6 -9.

Trunk/Stem: Twigs downy; bark dark gray

Leaves: Evergreen; leaves remain in tree of 3 -6 years, needle-like stiff, pointed; lines of white dots on all surfaces; triangular on cross section. with a midvein and resin ducts. Needles on short shoots (spurs) in tufts of 10 – 60.

Flowers: Monoecious; Pollen and seed cones similar but may also occur on separate trees. Seed cones large, upright resinous, oblong; they mature in 2 – 3 years and then disintegrate leaving the cone axis terminating the shoot.

Fruits and seeds: Upright, erect cone.

Wood sweet-scented, oily, durable, uniform and easily-worked. Symbol of fertility.