Spanish cedar facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Spanish cedar
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Cedrela
Species:	odorata
Synonyms
List Cedrela adenophylla Mart. [Invalid] Cedrela amara Goebel [Invalid] Cedrela brachystachya (C.DC.) C.DC. Cedrela brownei Loefl. [Invalid] Cedrela brownii Loefl. ex Kuntze Cedrela caldasana C.DC. Cedrela cedro Loefl. Cedrela cubensis Bisse Cedrela glaziovii C.DC. Cedrela guianensis A.Juss. Cedrela hassleri (C.DC.) C.DC. Cedrela huberi Ducke Cedrela imparipinnata C.DC. Cedrela longipes S.F.Blake Cedrela mexicana M.Roem. Cedrela mexicana var. puberula C.DC. Cedrela mourae C.DC. Cedrela occidentalis C.DC. & Rose Cedrela odorata Ruiz & Pav. [Illegitimate] Cedrela odorata Vell. Misapplied Cedrela odorata var. xerogeiton Rizzini & Heringer Cedrela palustris Handro Cedrela paraguariensis Mart. Cedrela paraguariensis var. brachystachya C.DC. Cedrela paraguariensis var. hassleriC.DC. Cedrela paraguariensis var. multijuga C.DC. Cedrela rotunda S.F.Blake Cedrela sintenisii C.DC. Cedrela vellozoana M.Roem. Cedrela whitfordii S.F.Blake Cedrela yucatana S.F.Blake Cedrus odorata Mill. Surenus brownei (Loefl.) Kuntze [Invalid] Surenus glaziovii (C.DC.) Kuntze Surenus guianensis (A.Juss.) Kuntze Surenus mexicana (M.Roem.) Kuntze Surenus paraguariensis (Mart.) Kuntze Surenus vellozoana (M.Roem.) Kuntze

Cedrela odorata, also known as Spanish cedar, Cuban cedar, or cedro in Spanish, is a very important tree. It belongs to the chinaberry family, called Meliaceae. This tree grows naturally in the Neotropics, which is a region in the Americas.

Tree Classification

Scientists group living things into categories. This helps us understand how they are related. The group of trees called Cedrela has been studied a lot. Since 1960, scientists have changed how they classify these trees two times. The most recent change, in 1981, said there are only seven types of trees in the Cedrela group.

Cedrela odorata is one of these seven types. It used to have 28 other names, like C. mexicana. This means that Cedrela odorata can look a bit different depending on where it grows.

Where Cedro Grows

Close-up of the trunk

Cedro is a tree that lives in the warm, wet parts of the New World. This includes places like Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and most of South America. You can find it from Mexico's Pacific coast all the way down to Argentina. It usually grows in forests that are either moist all year or have a dry season.

This tree likes to grow in well-drained soil. It often grows on limestone ground. Cedro can handle a long dry season. However, it does not grow well in places with too much rain (more than about 3000 mm per year). It also doesn't like heavy or waterlogged soils.

You usually find single cedro trees scattered among other types of trees. These forests might be semi-evergreen (some leaves stay all year) or semi-deciduous (some leaves fall off). Another tree, Mahogany (Swietenia species), often grows near cedro. Both trees can be harmed by the same insect pest, called the mahogany shootborer.

What the Tree Looks Like

The cedro tree can grow to be about 10 to 30 meters tall. That's like a 3 to 10-story building! It is a semi-deciduous tree, meaning it loses some of its leaves during certain times of the year. It is also monoecious, which means it has both male and female flowers on the same tree.

The trunk of the tree has thick, grey-brown bark. This bark has long, uneven lines. Its leaves are made up of many smaller leaflets, like a feather. These leaves are about 15 to 50 centimeters long. The leaflets are shaped like a curved blade, about 7 to 15 centimeters long and 3 to 5 centimeters wide. They are grouped together near the ends of the branches.

How People Use Cedro Wood

Cedrela odorata is the most important and common type of Cedrela tree for people to use. In English, its wood is called Spanish cedar. People in tropical parts of America really like this wood. This is because it naturally resists termites and rot.

The wood is attractive and not too heavy. Its main use is for making things that store clothes, like chests or closets. The inner part of the cedro wood, called the heartwood, has a special smell. This smell comes from a resin inside the wood. This resin also helps keep insects away. That's why it's called Spanish-cedar; its smell is similar to true cedars (Cedrus species), even though they are not related.

Cedro wood is easy to work with. It makes excellent plywood (thin layers of wood glued together) and veneer (thin slices of wood). If it could be grown more easily on tree farms (called plantations), it would be used even more. This tree is also used by beekeepers to make honey. Its wood is also popular for building humidors, which are special boxes that keep cigars fresh. Sometimes, it's even used for parts of electric guitars or for the neck of flamenco and classical guitars.

See also

In Spanish: Cedro americano para niños

• Cedar wood
• List of honey plants