Coniferous wood species - cedar and pine. Siberian cedar: description, planting and cultivation

Materials from coniferous species Wood, due to its characteristics, is very widely used in the construction of not only houses and baths, but also in the construction of gazebos and other objects. This material is also highly popular in interior decoration; for example, the most popular material for finishing a bathhouse is lining. However, it is worth noting that coniferous species are different.

The properties of pine and cedar are very similar in many ways, but there are still differences. Pine is highly susceptible to drying out, which makes it a less durable material, and strong, deep grooves appear after drying. If we consider cedar from a finishing point of view, we can note many positive aspects. The main ones can be called: preservation, for a long time, of the original appearance and beneficial influence on the human body.

Having decided to build houses from cedar, choosing a material, in order not to be deceived by the consumer, you need to know the differences between coniferous materials. After all, a wooden house, depending on the material used, will have different characteristics.

The main differences between cedar and pine are:

• Cedar (statistically average) is several times higher than pine;
• This type of tree has a longer lifespan, up to 800 years, unlike pine, which lives up to 120 years.
• Flowering in cedar also occurs later than pine;
• Cedar has a small number of grooves, unlike pine.
• Cedar is a more porous tree (like cork), thereby its thermal conductivity is 30% less than that of pine, which means that a cedar log of 30 cm will retain heat in the same way as a pine log with a diameter of 40 cm.

In addition, cedar has a warm shade of pinkish tone, and over time it becomes reddish in color. Hand-cut log houses have a pleasant, light aroma that has a number of medicinal characteristics. The most popular type of cedar is Altai. Growing in the Altai Mountains. It is this type of wood that has a unique shade and aroma incomparable to any other cedar from Siberia.

Hand-cut houses are often made from Canadian wood, as it has dark tones that can be vaguely compared to a brown or red tint. This type of wood practically does not emit active, medicinal elements. The smell also has a weak smell, but it is many times stronger than pine, but is inferior to Siberian cedar. This material will be optimal for building a bathhouse from a gun carriage.

A house made from Far Eastern cedar material will have a color somewhere between red and brown. This material is a rather weak amber, but in strength it is not inferior to Siberian cedar. Unlike pine, relatively shallow grooves appear on this material as it dries.

Currently, there are many types of lining on the finishing materials market. Paneling made from pine and cedar of various varieties has become widespread. In this article we will look at some of the features of lining made from Altai cedar, and also tell you how to distinguish it from materials made from other types of wood.

This lining is unique in its own way, since the Gorno-Altai cedar, from the wood of which it is made, grows exclusively in the Altai mountains; it no longer grows in any other regions of Russia or the world. Untouched nature, special climatic and geophysical conditions in which these trees grow give the wood special and unique properties. Residents of these places believe that these trees emit positive energy, drive away evil spirits and improve human health. Scientific research confirm that Altai cedars have a whole range of distinctive features and it is not for nothing that they have been considered extraordinary and very valuable since ancient times.

According to the data obtained from the results scientific research, Altai cedars, compared to other Siberian cedars, have almost 2 times the density and higher strength indicators. In terms of wood's resistance to rotting, it is superior not only to such a popular material as pine, but is also identical to larch, which is recognized as practically the standard for this parameter.

Now let's move on to the question of how lining made from Altai cedar differs and how not to confuse it with materials from other types of wood.

First of all, you should pay attention to the color. It should have slightly pinkish tints; by the way, after a while your cedar lining will darken a little and acquire a reddish-pink color, which will give the interior nobility and make it more sophisticated.

Second characteristic– an indescribable aroma, you will not confuse it with anything else, it is a fairly strong and very pleasant pine smell with unique notes inherent only to this breed.

The lining made from Canadian cedar, unlike our Altai cedar, is darker, the color is close to brown or deep red, the smell from the wood is barely perceptible. Far Eastern or Karelian cedar is slightly brown in color, just like its Canadian counterpart does not have a strong aroma, so it is difficult to confuse these species with their Altai relative if you carefully choose.

A separate question is how to distinguish Altai cedar lining from pine? Everything is quite simple - cedar wood is much lighter, it has a smoother and more uniform texture. Despite the fact that pine also emits a noticeable pine aroma, it is not as pleasant and strong as cedar. The pine smell should be familiar to you if you have eaten pine nuts, and once you smell it, you can’t confuse it with anything else. Also, pine wood contains a larger amount of resin, which not only worsens appearance, but also makes this material unsuitable for finishing a steam room.

So, let's repeat the key features linings from Gorno-Altai cedar:

• color;
• texture;
• resinousness;
• smell.

Based on the above, we recommend that you take a responsible approach to the choice of finishing materials and turn your attention to cedar lining and imitation timber from Tsar-Kedr, which have a number of amazing qualities.

This tree is called Siberian cedar. Although botanists dispute the name - and rightly so: it does not belong to the Cedar genus, but is closely related to pine trees. This biological species is called Siberian Pine (in Latin Pinus sibirica). Sometimes “cedar” is added. Since we are not specialists - taxonomists, we do not go into such subtleties; we call the tree as is customary. It can be called differently - cedar, and Siberian cedar pine - it is important that we understand what we are talking about... And indeed, what should we do now if in Siberia forested areas from Siberian pine are called “cedar trees”? Don't rename...

First of all, Siberian cedar is a very beautiful tree! Slender, covered with thick, long and soft needles. Take a closer look - in the bun Siberian cedar five long needles, not two, like . The needles are triangular, dark green, covered with a waxy coating. The bark also differs in color - in Siberian cedar it is grayish-brown. The crown is dense, with thick branches. Escapes last year stand out for their color - they are rather silver-brown.

The tree grows very slowly. Apparently, this is the reason why cedar grows so slender. He can live for a long time - up to five hundred years, and maybe more. And only at 50-60 years old does the Siberian cedar begin to bear fruit. Then on the tops of young shoots appear female cones, in which seed scales with two ovules are located under the covering scales. And near the base of the shoot of the last year, male cones grow, and pollen ripens in them. It is carried by the wind (as, indeed, in all pine trees).

The seeds of Siberian cedar ripen in cones for more than a year. They are very different from the seeds of Scots pine! Large - about a centimeter in length, more than half a centimeter in thickness - they are called “pine nuts” (although, from the point of view of biologists, they are not nuts!). They do not have any wings and cannot be carried by the wind, like the seeds of Scots pine, if only because of their weight. But taiga animals - the squirrel, the chipmunk, the nutcracker bird - take an active part in the distribution of seeds. Some of their winter supplies may be forgotten and lost. And then in the spring the seeds from such a “storehouse” germinate.

The seeds ripen by the end of summer of the year following pollination, in August. The cones dry out, become less resinous and begin to fall from the trees. It is then that the collection of “pine nuts” (the so-called “pine cone fight”) begins in places where Siberian pine grows massively. Previously, this process was quite strictly regulated by peasant communities. Then the state took over this function. We, who live far from the cedar trees, can only guess what is happening now...

Pine nuts are eaten both directly and as part of different dishes. They are very useful, as they contain almost all the amino acids, B vitamins, vitamins E and K that we need. Siberian pine seeds are rich in microelements - manganese, zinc, iron, copper, magnesium, phosphorus. And yet, pine nuts are mainly used to produce pine nut oil.

Pine nuts contain a lot of polyunsaturated fatty acids. If they are extracted from the seeds, they produce valuable cedar oil, which can be used both in cooking and for medicinal purposes. It is superior in quality to olive oil! But when buying it, you need to make sure that you are buying a truly valuable product. The fact is that to extract oil there is several ways. The first one is cold pressed. The seeds are placed under a press and the oil is squeezed out of them. It is cold-pressed oil that should be used for medical purposes, as well as in cosmetics. There are also several methods of hot pressing. Basically, they are all similar in that the chopped nuts are heated and then pressed. In this case, the oil yield is greater, but its value decreases, since many substances are destroyed when heated. This oil is used in cooking. Finally, there is extraction. What it is? To extract the oil, a solvent is added to the seeds (for example, it can be gasoline), and then the oil and this same solvent are separated. I think there is no need to talk about the “health benefits” of the latest product. So it makes sense to buy cedar oil only from well-known sellers, asking for documents about where and how it was produced. Naturally, cold-pressed oil will also be the most expensive. The cake remaining after pressing the oil is used in cooking and in the confectionery industry.

Siberian cedar pine (Siberian cedar) in natural conditions grows in Eastern and Western Siberia, in Altai, the Urals and the northeast of the Russian Plain. One might think that this tree was once distributed much further to the west, since there is a European pine, close relative Siberian, inhabitant of the Carpathians. Perhaps during the last glaciation, which occurred 25 - 12 thousand years ago, the area was dissected by a glacier. Subsequently, developing in isolation, these plants gradually diverged in a number of characteristics, and two separate species arose.

Siberian cedar has long been successfully grown by foresters in many places in Russia. Such groves of Siberian pine exist in the Arkhangelsk (near Koryazhma) and Vologda regions (near Veliky Ustyug, not far from Ustyuzhna). There are cedar plantations in both the central and northwestern regions of Russia. There are cedar nurseries where this tree is grown. And in the park of Illarion Ivanovich Dudorov in the north of the Vologda region, cedar pines are also growing. I think it makes great sense to support and spread this tradition. We can get (more precisely, of course, not us, not even our children, but our great-grandchildren!) the most valuable forest species.

20.01.2019

Pine or cedar? What to choose? The healing properties of cedar can strengthen the immune system and improve the condition nervous system, destroy bacteria and viruses. Pine also has bactericidal properties, energizes and gives strength.

Larch has similar characteristics. Cedar materials are more expensive than pine, so many scammers, taking advantage of the lack of knowledge among clients, can offer pine logs under the guise of elite cedar logs. In order to avoid such troubles, you need to understand the differences between these breeds and how to determine what is in front of you.

Basic information about conifers

Coniferous trees, namely cedar and pine, are some of the best building materials for the construction wooden houses. Pine trees belong to the class Pinopsida. Now it includes several commonly found species: pine, cedar, sequoia, spruce, cypress, fir, juniper and yew. The main difference between these trees is their reproductive system- they all form cones.

All of the listed conifers are included in the same class, but pine, cedar and larch are more reliable for construction. The first two species are more practical, since larch has heavy weight due to its dense structure, which complicates processing.

A finished log house made of cedar and pine is difficult to distinguish from each other. To understand how the first type of wood differs from the second, it is necessary to study their characteristics separately.

Features of pine

Pine is a tree that occupies about 1/6 of the entire territory Russian forest. There are 100 species of pine trees known in the world, and we have 10 species. The most popular of them is Scots pine with the following differences:

Plano-convex needles, if viewed in cross section;

Short shoots with paired needles;

Dense cones with thickened scales that ripen within 1.5 years.

Siberian pine, often called Siberian cedar, as well as Korean (Korean cedar) and dwarf cedar are in no way related to the genus cedar. The main types of cedar: Himalayan, Lebanese, Atlas.

The pine pine, which everyone knows thanks to its pine nuts, lives on average up to 500 years. Its height reaches up to 40 m. After 40-50 years, the increase in height begins to decrease slightly. Its value depends on temperature indicators and the amount of precipitation. It rapidly decreases as the temperature decreases. In summer, when the ground dries out, the diameter of the tree depends on precipitation. During severe droughts, growth may slow down, then recover with the arrival of rains.

In the area of ​​the thickest part of the trunk (butt) the bark is up to 5-6 times more massive than at half the height, and in the area of ​​the stump it can reach 10 cm, which makes the tree fire-resistant.

Main characteristics of cedar

The tree that everyone is accustomed to calling cedar is a type of pine. True cedar grows only in Lebanon; in other regions it is planted as ornamental plant. Korean and Siberian variety cedar pine and cedar (also called dwarf cedar). Siberian species has the following features:

The part between the core and the sapwood is threaded, the first element gradually becomes lighter and merges into the second;

IN natural conditions grows only in the Siberian, Altai, and Ural regions;

Can live up to 5 centuries, the first cones appear 20-60 years after planting, forming every 5-6 years;

Unlike ordinary pine, most of seeds are spread not by the wind, but by the nutcracker bird;

The wood is distinguished by the presence of wide white sapwood with a yellowish tint, and the heartwood has a pinkish-ocher color;

It is obtained from pine needles essential oils, as well as vitamin C;

A clear, but not sharp pattern of annual layers.

Cedar (as we will henceforth call Russian cedar pine) has long been considered powerful and sacred tree. Compared to ordinary pine, it has fewer resin paths, but they are thicker. If you sand the end of this wood, a liquid resembling white paint will appear on its surface. It is by the resin passages that we can understand that this is cedar.

Concerning design features, they are similar, because Siberian cedar is a genus of pine trees. This tree is also called cedar pine. It is considered the most elite, durable and reliable wood. The material is especially relevant for interior decoration. It has high aesthetic characteristics and has a beneficial effect on health.

Comparative characteristics of Siberian cedar and other coniferous trees

Having studied the characteristics of the conifer family, we can come to the conclusion that they are very similar. When choosing lumber for building a wooden house from a log, you need to clearly understand what the differences are between ordinary pine and cedar. They manifest themselves in both operational and healing properties. Visually identifying the differences is not easy, but there are a number of signs that will help you accurately make the right choice.

The main ones include:

1. Height. Cedar is approximately 5 m taller than pine.

2.Age and flowering. Cedar lives longer and begins to bloom later.

3.Bark. Pine bark has many deep grooves, which appear much faster than cedar bark.

4. Needles and cones. Pine needles are arranged in pairs, cedar needles are arranged in bunches of 5 pieces. The cones that grow on cedar can be eaten (pine nuts), but on pine they are not edible.

When trees are already presented in the form of a log, it is almost impossible to distinguish them from each other unless you have additional knowledge.

The simplest recognition methods include:

1. Color. Cedar has a pleasant pinkish tint that does not lose its richness over time. Pine logs have a grayish color that gradually becomes dull. If you compare logs, these differences can be seen at the ends. If there was a knot on the cedar, a reddish area will remain in this place; on pine there is none.

2.Smell. Cedar wood differs from pine in smell. This is due to different chemical composition. The aroma of cedar lasts much longer, even if the material is not processed. It resembles the characteristic balsamic smell of pine nuts. Pine has a less intense odor, dominated by the unobtrusive aroma of pine needles.

3. Weight. Cedar is lighter than pine, and the structure of its wood is more even and uniform.

4. Change of shade. A cedar log house becomes dark faster, while pine is more resistant to this process. Cedar logs can be identified by their pink core.

Only a specialist can accurately determine which log house is in front of you. Cedar wood is lighter and softer, but has a low drying rate.

When comparing, you should take into account the characteristics of other conifers:

Spruce- similar in wood quality and structure to pine, but it has less resin, lower strength and a lighter shade.

Fir– similar in quality and external signs with spruce.

Larch– similar to ore pine, resistant to rot, so often used in places with high humidity.

Cedar, in its structure and quality of wood, combines the properties of spruce and pine. If we compare these lumber, then with the same thickness of logs, cedar will provide maximum thermal protection.

Why is cedar better?

Each tree from the pine family has its own advantages and disadvantages, but the best material, which is used for the construction of luxury homes, is considered cedar.

It is distinguished by the following qualities:

Environmentally friendly. Cedar wood serves as a natural antiseptic and has a positive effect on health. It secretes phytoncides that have a depressing effect on pathogenic microflora. The air in the room becomes clean from germs and pleasant due to the aroma that lasts for many years.

Practicality. Siberian cedar is easy to process, has a plastic structure and high strength. The material does not lend itself negative impact moisture, resistant to mold and insect damage.

High breathability, optimal heat conservation. Cedar walls allow air to pass through well, preventing the formation of excess moisture in the room. The material creates effective heat exchange - such a house is warm in winter and cool in summer.

Durability. The tree easily tolerates any weather, severe frosts, scorching sun. She is not afraid of moisture and temperature changes.

In addition to all the listed performance characteristics, cedar is also valued for its aesthetic properties. This material was created by nature, retains its original texture and beautiful shades after processing (from dark chocolate to light amber).

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.

Comparison

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. 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 trees have more economic importance for humanity.