Atlas cedarMourad Harzallah, CC BY 4.0
Atlas cedar
Cedar of LebanonSam J. Thomas, CC BY 4.0
Cedar of Lebanon
Lookalikes

Atlas cedar or cedar of Lebanon?

Both are big cedars with needles in tufts and upright barrel cones.

The quickest check

The quickest check is the branch tips. Atlas cedar: tips angled up, in tilted spiky layers. Cedar of Lebanon: level limbs holding wide flat plates.

At a glance

Look atAtlas cedarCedar of Lebanon
Branch tipsTips angled up, in tilted spiky layersLevel limbs holding wide flat plates
Length of a needleUnder 20 mm, often silvery greyAbout 25 mm, dark green, sometimes grey
Cone standing on a branchSquat barrel 5 to 8 cm, top sunkenBigger barrel, 8 to 12 cm, top not sunken

Three ways to tell them apart

Branch tipsShape
Atlas cedarTips angled up, in tilted spiky layers
Cedar of LebanonLevel limbs holding wide flat plates
Length of a needleLeaves
Atlas cedar: length of a needle
Atlas cedarUnder 20 mm, often silvery grey
Cedar of Lebanon: length of a needleLouis Aureglia, CC BY 4.0
Cedar of LebanonAbout 25 mm, dark green, sometimes grey
Cone standing on a branchCones
Atlas cedar: cone standing on a branchDyhia YOUSFI, CC BY 4.0
Atlas cedarSquat barrel 5 to 8 cm, top sunken
Cedar of Lebanon: cone standing on a branchШальнов Кирилл, CC BY 4.0
Cedar of LebanonBigger barrel, 8 to 12 cm, top not sunken
Think you can tell them apart now? Try the tree quiz: real photographs, and what gives each tree away.Take the quiz

The two trees

Atlas cedar

Cedrus atlantica

Atlas cedar is a big evergreen, most often silvery grey, planted in parks and large gardens. Its foliage grows in spiky-edged layers that tilt upwards. Barrel-shaped cones stand upright on the branches.

How to identify Atlas cedar →

Cedar of Lebanon

Cedrus libani

Cedar of Lebanon is a massive evergreen, and an old one is flat-topped and usually wider than it is tall. Its foliage spreads out in great level tiers.

How to identify cedar of Lebanon →

Their other lookalikes

Cedar of LebanonWestern red cedarCedar of Lebanon or western red cedar?Quickest check: the leaves on a shoot
In the app

See them side by side in Treely

  • Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
  • Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
  • A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
  • The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them
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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: Mourad Harzallah (CC BY 4.0), Sam J. Thomas (CC BY 4.0), amigolimax (CC0), Louis Aureglia (CC BY 4.0), Dyhia YOUSFI (CC BY 4.0), Шальнов Кирилл (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.