Cedar Tree

Generalities:

The Cedar tree (Citrus medica) appears to be native to India and Burma. There are ancient testimonies of this citrus fruit. From Persia it arrived in the Mediterranean countries and, probably in the third century BC, in Italy. It forms shrubs or small trees, up to 8 meters high, with thorny branches and irregular posture. The leaves, oval-oblong, with a toothed margin, medium-large, are slightly reddish and then dark green. The flowers are large and red-purple in bud. When opened, they have a white interior and a purple-tinged exterior. Gathered in racemes at the apex of the branches, they can be hermaphroditic or male due to abortion of the gynoecium. It has continuous flowering, with main flows in spring and autumn. The fruits are large, oblong or oval, with a smooth or wrinkled surface and full of protuberances. with thick epicarp and pulp divided into 5-12 segments that contain numerous monoembryonic seeds. The greatest economic importance of cedar derives from the peel that is used for the preparation of candied fruit, water and cedar syrup and for the extraction of essential oils. Soft drinks are made with the juice. In medicine it is used for the preparation of infusions.

Cultivation and Care :

The Cedar tree prefers soil composed of calcareous clay, sand and humus, as well as all those substrates that are particularly rich in nitrogen and potassium. Cedar has little resistance to harsh temperatures, cold and frosts: this explains the reason why it will be necessary to provide frames that allow the plant to be adequately protected. The first thing to do is to remove the soil, by spreading the manure. In any case, we must highlight how cedar plants need to be subjected to a pruning that must take place constantly and periodically, since if they were allowed to grow without any restraint, then they would give life to a crown with irregular habit, characterized by the presence of thorny branches that would only create confusion between them, carrying out a limiting and blocking action towards the fruiting of the cedar plant. The suggestion is, therefore, to prune it regularly and vigorously, in such a way as to cut off the branches that are not fruiting (which are also called nerds) and all those branches that have been affected by diseases or that are dry. Finally, we must not forget how important it will be to tie the various cedar plants together, so that the wind does not cause a collision between them and, therefore, to prevent scratches from forming on the various fruits. Finally, the last tip concerns the harvesting of the fruits of the cedar plant which, in most cases, must always be done in broad daylight.