How to distinguish cedar from pine lumber. Cedar, aspen and pine boards - we learn to distinguish between varieties and read the markings. Botanical characteristics of Siberian pine

If you need reliability and durability, then they can be used for work different breeds trees that are well suited for certain operating conditions. An option such as a cedar floorboard is used for rooms with high humidity, although this species can be used in any room and even outside, since the material has a number of positive properties, which we will discuss in this review.

Material characteristics

As for the main indicators, here it is necessary to highlight several of the most significant factors:

Based on all the above indicators, we can conclude that the material is very light. And its resistance to humidity is very high. It should also be noted that cedar is a soft wood, which limits its use in load-bearing structures and other elements subject to high loads.

Important!
It should be noted that other material is often sold under the guise of cedar, so below we will tell you how to distinguish the real option.

Differences between the option under consideration and the scope of its application

Cedar is one of the materials that are in steady demand and have been used in the decoration of residential and other premises since ancient times, but nowadays it is very difficult to find an original option on the market, so first of all we will tell you how not to make a mistake when choosing.

How to distinguish cedar

Let us immediately note that this type of tree grows in a subtropical climate and in our country is found only in the area Crimean peninsula, the bulk of harvested wood is of Asian origin. Regarding the overwhelming volumes of material of this type, sold in our country, then this cedar pine, which grows in Siberia and has a rather mediocre relationship to real cedar.

That is why the question of how to distinguish a cedar board from a pine board is very important and requires special attention.

A simple instruction will help you with this:

  • The most significant criterion will be the price, since delivery of material from Lebanon or the Himalayas itself costs a lot, and if the difference in cost with pine is even 50%, then most likely you are looking at the Siberian analogue. Never listen to sellers who claim that cedar pine is a cedar that grows in Siberia, since this is not true, and many experts do not even know about it;
  • If you use an unedged board, you can also pay attention to the bark, in cedar it is thinner, but it differs in texture from ordinary pine;
  • As for color, most often the material has a pink tint; sometimes there are options that are closer to beige, but this is the exception rather than the rule. The presence of yellowness and clearly defined wood fibers is the most obvious sign that this is cedar pine;

Cedar and pine are coniferous trees. At first glance, they are very similar, but in reality this is not the case at all. In order to distinguish trees, you should know not only them external features. They differ significantly in the specifics of their growth.

How to distinguish cedar from pine? This is what is presented short story in this article.

General information

Today, the number is tens of times higher than the number of cedar species. And it grows in wider areas. In addition, the variability in size and generic characteristics of pine is much more diverse.

It is less capricious to the soil, since its powerful and long roots go deep into the ground, and therefore the tree feeds on nutrients and moisture from the deep layers of the earth.

Places of growth

Cedars grow in the subtropics of the mountainous Crimea, the Mediterranean and the Himalayas. Depending on the name of the area where they grow, they are divided into types: Himalayan, Crimean, Lebanese, etc.

Pines grow more in the temperate subtropical climates of North America and Eurasia. In total, scientists identify 200 varieties of this coniferous plant. Both cedar and pine are evergreen trees. Various natural conditions They also create various forms of plants from bushes to trees with huge crowns.

Peculiarities

How do cedar and pine grow? Cedar - monoecious evergreen, and the height of the tree with an impressive spreading crown can reach up to 50 meters. The needles, collected in bunches, have a spiral arrangement. Each needle-like needle has a triangular shape and is painted in emerald-steel color. Cedar cones, arranged singly and shaped like a barrel, stand on the shoots like candles. They ripen in the second or third year of formation.

Pine, which also has long or shortened needles. Needles of two to five pieces are also collected in a bunch. When damage appears on a tree, rosettes form at this place, from which needles gradually grow. The color of the needles depends on climate conditions and soil composition. It can vary from rich green to light with a silvery tint. Pine cones are oblong in shape and hang from the branches.

Wood

How does cedar differ from pine when using their wood as a building material?

Materials from many coniferous woods, due to their characteristics, are widely used in the construction of bathhouses, houses, gazebos and other objects. The material is popular in interior decoration. But it should be noted that conifers are different and have differences in quality.

How to distinguish cedar from pine? How not to make a mistake in choosing material for construction? The properties of these two breeds are similar in many ways, and yet there are some differences. Pine is subject to severe shrinkage, so it is not a very durable material. In addition, after drying it appears deep furrows. Cedar in this regard is slightly different from pine, it also has others positive points, the main of which are the following: beneficial effects on humans and preservation of the original appearance more long time.

A little about the benefits of pine cones

It should be noted the benefits of pine cones. Absolutely all parts of the plant are used in folk medicine. Its fruits are especially beneficial.

Pine cones are a treasure trove large quantity useful substances. Young buds, rich in valuable biologically active compounds, are very useful. They are used in folk medicine for the following purposes:


In conclusion

The main differences between cedar and pine:

  • The plant is taller than a pine tree.
  • It has a longer lifespan (up to approximately 800 years) compared to pine (up to 120 years).
  • Flowering occurs later.
  • Fewer grooves in the wood.
  • Thermal conductivity is 30% less than that of pine, which is associated with greater porosity.

Clear January day. The snow sparkling under the sun blinds the eyes, and there is such silence around, as if the whole world had plunged into a heavy, uninterrupted sleep. And this dream is guarded by formidable warriors - majestic Siberian cedars. Leonid Maksimovich Leonov compared this to an epic cliff rising in the middle of a green ocean, at the sight of which “the hat itself falls off your head with respect.” amazing tree. Its scientific name is Siberian pine. Real cedars - Lebanese, Himalayan, Atlas, Cypriot - grow in North Africa, Himalayas, the Middle East and the island of Cyprus. These are powerful trees with very valuable, pleasantly smelling wood, on the shortened shoots of which there are 30-40 needles. Why is Siberian pine often called cedar? Yes, for its special status, longevity, impressive size, fragrant wood: the pioneers of Siberia and North America in the simplicity of their hearts called any tree with pleasantly smelling wood cedar.
Contemporary of A. S. Pushkin, expert on Siberian forests, naturalist and local historian V. Dmitriev in the article “ Siberian cedar“In 1818 he enthusiastically wrote: “Be proud, places beloved by the sun, be proud, O heights of Lebanon, of your cedars: not having seen you in my fatherland on the motherland that belongs to Russia, I do not dare to dignify you, but in my eyes the shady cedar of rich Siberia He will not yield to you in his beauty and will replace you for me. What majesty is in the bearing of this tree, what a sacred shadow in the density of its forests!..”
Siberian pine is significantly different from Scots pine, although they are close relatives. One of the differences concerns the seeds: in Scots pine they are small, with wings, while in Siberian cedar they are the well-known nuts. Their color is brown, they are covered with a peel and thin inner shell, under which there is a white oily core. A large cone contains more than a hundred seeds.
The second difference concerns the needles: cedar has longer needles that last longer on the tree, and there are 5 needles in one bunch, while Scots pine has two. Cedar is distinguished by a more powerful cone-shaped dark green crown. And he lives one and a half to two times longer - up to 800-850 years.
The height of Siberian pine is 35-43 meters. Its trunk is brown-gray; old trees have fissured bark. The shoots are yellow-brown, covered with long red hairs. Root system is formed depending on the nature of the soil and soil.
At the end of spring, the cedar pine becomes dusty and at this time looks especially elegant: the crimson-colored male spikelets are clearly visible against the background of dark green needles in the middle and lower parts of the crown. And at the top female cones, oval, purple, collected in 2-7 pieces at the terminal bud of the shoot. In plantings there are sometimes trees with only male spikelets. Pollination occurs with the help of wind. In September of the following year, cones with seeds ripen, the shape of which can be ovoid, elongated-ovate, cylindrical or cone-shaped. Outside, the seeds are covered with durable scales strung on a thick rod.
Siberian cedar is winter-hardy, thanks to which it reaches far to the north. Its artificial plantings can be found in Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions, in particular on Solovetsky Islands, Valaam island.
At the same time, the Siberian giant is undemanding to the soil, successfully tolerates both excess and lack of moisture, but prefers areas with sufficient moisture, so it grows well at the sources and along river valleys.
Cedar pine plays an important role in natural complex Siberia. It has been established that the drainage in cedar trees is several times greater than in other forests. It is not surprising that the waters filtered by cedar tracts supply water to Lake Baikal and feed the powerful rivers of Siberia - the Ob, Yenisei, and Lena.
In addition, Siberian pine forests reliably protect soils, especially mountainous ones, from erosion. Cedar tracts located on mountain slopes Southern Siberia, play vital role in the formation of biological and climate processes. So, they are rich in all kinds of living creatures. In years of abundant seed harvests, the number of sable and squirrels increases sharply. Forest inhabitants - jays, nutcrackers, squirrels, chipmunks - have become smarter at deftly extracting nuts from cones. And the bears, holding the pine cone with their paws, tear off the scales with their fangs - the nuts are exposed and go into the mouth without interference.
The existence of 70 species of mammals, 200 species of birds, and many species of insects is associated with cedar trees. Special mention should be made about the nutcracker bird: by feeding on the seeds of the Siberian pine and making provisions for the winter, it contributes to the spread of the cedar. According to experts, if he did not have such a reliable partner, he would hardly be able to survive to this day.
A person receives great benefit from this unique beautiful tree. The well-known cedar balsam, used in instrument making, as well as turpentine, rosin, varnishes, and camphor are made from cedar resin.
Wood Siberian pine- straight-layer, light, durable, easy to process, not susceptible to rotting, - used in the production of pencils, drawing boards, musical instruments. The Germans were the first to discover the high resonant qualities of cedar wood. German trading companies that purchased cedar oil in Russia suddenly demanded that it be exported in containers made of cedar wood, and the thickness of the container boards was almost doubled. It later turned out that when the boxes of oil arrived in Germany, they were very carefully broken down and the cedar planks were sent to musical instrument factories. Thanks to this, trading companies selling cedar oil had a very significant additional income.
Cedar trees, releasing essential oil with bactericidal properties, improve the health of the air and give it a refined aroma. In dishes made of cedar wood, milk does not turn sour for a long time, and in chests made of cedar planks, moths do not grow. Residents of the Cis-Ural region have long preferred Siberian pine for finishing their homes; the significant thickness of the wood made it possible to obtain wide boards suitable for making solid doors. In many cities of Siberia and the Urals - Turinsk, Tyumen, Tobolsk, Tomsk - buildings decorated with intricate wooden laces carved from cedar boards have been preserved. And in one of the churches in Tobolsk, an iconostasis was built from cedar.
Cedar pine needles contain a lot of ascorbic acid, macro- and microelements. It is used to make vitamin flour and carotene paste used in animal husbandry. A persistent brown dye is obtained from cedar bark, tannins are extracted, and thermal insulation boards are made.
But perhaps the most significant for humans are the seeds of the cedar pine, which are tasty and nutritious. They contain 60-70 percent of beautiful golden-yellow oil, which has nutritional and technical significance, up to 20 percent of protein, which is similar in amino acid composition to egg, about 12 percent of carbohydrates, a complex of vitamins, and a rich set of macro- and microelements. Cedar oil is not inferior in quality to the famous olive oil; it is used not only by cooks, but also by artists - many famous masters diluted their paints with it.
Pine nuts are healing- help with atherosclerosis. A traditional medicine recommends using not only kernels, but also seed shells, young shoot tips, buds, needles, resin...
Since ancient times, since the time of Ivan the Terrible, Siberia has been the largest supplier of pine nuts to the world market. According to historians, they were sold to Persia, China, Sweden and other countries. In 1786, academician P. S. Pallas wrote: “In Switzerland they use pine nuts in pharmacies; Milk is made from them, which is prescribed for chest diseases... Because of their insightful, thin, partly balsamic oil, they are better, which is why they claim that they were usefully consumed by Czech people...” The main suppliers of nuts were the Tobolsk and Yenisei provinces.
The peoples of Siberia have long treated this valuable plant with great respect, considering it sacred, the guardian of goodness, truth and justice. In the Surgut region (Khanty-Mansiysk National District, Tyumen Region), when laying the foundation for a new house, residents placed a small cedar pine tree in the front corner, saying: “Here you go, mother-in-law, warm home and shaggy cedar! The tree remained in the house - it was considered the habitat of the brownie.
According to Evenki legends, cedar helps to live honestly and selflessly, and is a source of strength, beauty and nobility. At the birth of a son, the Evenks planted cedar pine near their homes, and when a daughter was born, they planted a birch tree. The legends and fairy tales of the Nanai people of the Amur region say that only good spirits because she is the most generous tree. Emphasizing important of this plant, the Siberians used to say: “The taiga is alive with cedar.” They believed that if a child is given a handful of pine nuts every day, he will grow up to be a good young man, and no illness will overcome him.
There are many mysteries about the cedar pine: “It stands tall, it hangs curly, it’s shaggy at the edges, it’s sweet in the middle!”, “Don’t hit me, don’t break me; climb on me: I have it!”
Currently, cedar forests occupy about 40 million hectares, or about 5 percent of the area covered by forests. This makes it possible to collect 1-1.5 million tons of pine nuts in Siberia, but only about 20 thousand tons are harvested. Foresters have identified early-ripening, large-cone, high-yielding forms of Siberian pine. To breed them, plantations are created in which cuttings taken from high-yielding plants are grafted onto young seedlings. A hectare of such plantings yields 500-600 kilograms, and in some cases 1.5-2 tons of nuts.
Cedar pine plantations are beginning to appear in the European part of the USSR. However, its closest relative grows here - the European cedar pine, listed in the Red Book of the USSR. This rare relict species is found only in the Carpathians. On Far East another relative of the Siberian pine lives - Korean cedar, distinguished by larger cones and needles, stronger and thicker seed shells. Forests containing Korean pine occupy about 4 million hectares in our country. Outside the USSR, the tree grows in eastern China, Korea and Japan.

Cedar and pine are two trees that belong to the same Pine family. Despite their external similarity, both plants have a number of significant differences.

What are cedar and pine

Cedar is a genus of trees in the Pine family, which consists of only a few species.
Lebanese cedar
Pine is a genus of trees in the Pine family, numbering about 120 species.
Scots pine
Siberian cedar pine

Comparison of cedar and pine

What is the difference between cedar and pine?
Cedars are common within the subtropical climate zone– Mediterranean, mountain Crimea, Himalayas. Therefore, there are only a few types of these plants - Lebanese, Himalayan and Atlas cedar.
Pines are common in temperate and subtropical climate in Eurasia and North America. Today there are about 200 species of pine trees on Earth. Pines are evergreens. Depending on living conditions, they look like large trees with crown different shapes, and miniature shrubs.
Cedar is a monoecious plant reaching 50 meters in height. The tree is evergreen and has a characteristic, spreading crown. The needles are arranged spirally, collected in bunches of 30-40 pieces each. An individual needle resembles a needle. It can be triangular or tetrahedral, painted in a special emerald-steel color.
Pine is a monoecious plant with long or short needles. From two to five long needles are collected in a bunch, the number of which forms the basis of the taxonomy of pine trees. When damaged, rosettes form on the tree, from which short needles grow. The color of the green mass of pine depends on the climate and soil quality, and therefore varies from light silver to intense green.
Cedar cones are located singly, “stick out” like candles, and have a special barrel-shaped shape. Such a cone ripens in the second or third year of its formation. For of this body Seed incubation is characterized by the presence of numerous, spirally arranged scales, to which tiny ones are attached - only 15% of total weight cones! - winged seeds. The embryo of the future cedar consists of 8-10 cotyledons. When a seed falls into the soil, a new cedar sprout is able to grow - “hatch” in just 3 weeks.
Pine cones have a characteristic oblong shape, do not “stick out”, but hang sadly from the branches. Bye the process is underway When the seed ripens, the scales fit very tightly, but upon ripening they open, “releasing” the seeds. For each scale there are a pair of winged or wingless seeds. A very small pine embryo has from 4 to 15 cotyledons. Germination time depends on the type and geographical location of the plant.
Thanks to more widespread and the number of species, pine is more intensively used by humans.

TheDifference.ru determined that the difference between cedar and pine is as follows:

The number of pine species is tens of times greater than the number of cedar species.
The distribution area of ​​pine is much wider than that of cedar.
The morphology and size of pine are much more diverse than cedar.
There are more needles in a cedar bundle than in a pine bundle.
Pine trees have more economic importance for humanity.

Cedar and pine are two trees that belong to the same Pine family. Despite their external similarity, both plants have a number of significant differences.

Definition

Cedar is a genus of trees in the Pine family, which consists of only a few species.

Lebanese cedar

Pine is a genus of trees in the Pine family, numbering about 120 species.


Scots pine
Siberian cedar pine

Comparison

Cedars are common within the subtropical climate zone - the Mediterranean, mountainous Crimea, and the Himalayas. Therefore, there are only a few types of these plants - Lebanese, Himalayan and Atlas cedar.

Pines are common in temperate and subtropical climates in Eurasia and North America. Today there are about 200 species of pine trees on Earth. Pines are evergreens. Depending on living conditions, they look like both large trees with crowns of different shapes and miniature shrubs.

Cedar is a monoecious plant reaching 50 meters in height. The tree is evergreen and has a characteristic, spreading crown. The needles are arranged spirally, collected in bunches of 30-40 pieces each. An individual needle resembles a needle. It can be triangular or tetrahedral, painted in a special emerald-steel color.

Pine is a monoecious plant with long or short needles. From two to five long needles are collected in a bunch, the number of which forms the basis of the taxonomy of pine trees. When damaged, rosettes form on the tree, from which short needles grow. The color of the green mass of pine depends on the climate and soil quality, and therefore varies from light silver to intense green.

Cedar cones are located singly, “stick out” like candles, and have a special barrel-shaped shape. Such a cone ripens in the second or third year of its formation. This seed incubation organ is characterized by the presence of numerous, spirally arranged scales, to which tiny ones are attached - only 15% of the total weight of the cone! - winged seeds. The embryo of the future cedar consists of 8-10 cotyledons. When a seed falls into the soil, a new cedar sprout is able to grow - “hatch” in just 3 weeks.

Pine cones have a characteristic oblong shape, do not “stick out”, but hang sadly from the branches. While the seed is ripening, the scales fit very tightly, but upon ripening they open, “releasing” the seeds. For each scale there are a pair of winged or wingless seeds. A very small pine embryo has from 4 to 15 cotyledons. Germination time depends on the type and geographical location of the plant.

Due to its greater distribution and number of species, pine is used more intensively by humans.

Conclusions website

  1. The number of pine species is tens of times greater than the number of cedar species.
  2. The distribution area of ​​pine is much wider than that of cedar.
  3. The morphology and size of pine are much more diverse than cedar.
  4. There are more needles in a cedar bundle than in a pine bundle.
  5. Pine forests are of greater economic importance for humanity.