from Don Johnson
Thanks to Jancy for gathering up various strands
including the below.
The "Pendula" is a variety (subspecies) of the
Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca Pendula, while there is also a pendula subspecies
of the Cedar of Lebanon (C. libani) called Weeping Cedar. So far as I know
subspecies are implicitly included when one uses the Genus/species
taxonym.
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Only the latter has "of Lebanon" as part of the
common English name. And "yes," I agree there is doubtless a link between the
cedars in PF & Ada.
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JF wrote to Don Johnson: I think the "weeping cedar" is a cultivar of
the Cedar of Lebanon, maybe specifically /Cedrus libani/ "Pendula", so it's not
quite "the Lebanon Cedar a.k.a. the Weeping Cedar". I can't help wondering
whether this is a reminiscence of the obvious and hidden cedars in /Pale Fire/.
Unfortunately, I didn't find "shade" in the passage (though "shadow" is there).
(JF)
JM to JF and DBJ: In one of my sources I saw there are various
kinds of Cedrus libani and one, the weeping cedar, is mentioned as belonging to
the "Atlas" ("Atlantic") kind.
I also found a reference that "Biblical or
Koranic names are frequently used outside the Near East for indigenous plants
that never grew in the lands where these two books originated. The flora of
eastern North America, for example, has many "cedars", which are not related to
the cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani) of the Bible. Perhaps because the cedar of
Lebanon was such a well-recognized symbol from the Bible, the early Christian
settlers in North America gave this name to many different trees (and even to
many herbaceous plants),whether or not they were true cedars or even members of
the same botanical family. For example, the widespread red cedar of eastern
North America (Juniperus virginiana), like Cedrus libani, is an evergreen and
has a pleasant, enduring fragrance, but its cone is fleshy and berry-like,
unlike the large spindle-shaped cone of the cedar of Lebanon."
Of interest to
"Ada, or Ardor", might be the link with Eden' s Tree of Knowledge in
"Religion: Theology, Rite and Myth." Samuel Noah Kramer (" Ezekiel
mentions the cedars of Lebanon in the Garden of Eden, ..."
www.bibleorigins.net/EdensTreeofKnowledgeLife.html ; Roberts - Trees as
Tribute in the Ancient Near East - Transoxiana .. "The Cedars of Lebanon", pp.
89-96; "Cypress and Juniper in Hebrew and Assyrian Texts", ... "The Paradise
Myth", pp 2-7. George Brazilier, New
York, 1979.
...www.transoxiana.org/11/roberts-near_east_trees.html -
To complete the
data gathered now:
Giulia Visintin: Lebanon Cedar a.k.a. the Weeping Cedar in
Strong Opinions, p. 55
SES: [EDNOTE. Just to save everyone from finding
the citation: In his comments for a 1965 television interview in SO, VN remarks
that "A good
deal of Kinbote's commentary was written here in the Montreux
Palace garden[. . . .] I'm especially fond of its weeping cedar, the
arboreal
counterpart of a very shaggy dog with hair hanging over its eyes"
(55). ]