FROM THE OLD CEDAR TREE TO THE NEW ONE

The old Noisy le Roi cedar tree was a Lebanese cedar, a species now on way of disappearing, still decorating old gardens of 18^th and 19^th centuries, and of which only a few examples are still alive, even in Lebanon.

It normally grows in Turkey and Syria between 1200 and 2000 m., but is no longer planted now, due to his sensitivity to freezing, higher than the Atlas variety. It was brought to England around 1646 by Edward Pocok, chaplain of the British Embassy in Constantinople, who planted one of them in his presbytery garden in Childrey, Berkshire ; it is still alive and his trunk has more than 7,5 m of circumference.

In 1734, French botanist Bernard de Jussieu brought from a trip in England two samples of Lebanese cedar trees. History says that shortly before reaching the King’s garden, he fell and broke the pot containing the precious samples. He had no choice but to use his own hat to save them and they arrived safely to be planted in what is now the Jardin des Plantes.

One of them, located in the Royal Labyrinth still has its fiery appearance. The fate of the second is not well ascertained. According to certain people, it would have been given to Trudaine and planted in his garden in Seine et Marne, where a storm killed it in 1936. For other authors, Mr de Jussieu would have replanted it in Noisy le Roi, for which it became a symbol and a precious ornament. Unfortunately it became compulsory to cut it down at fall 1998. It had previously been hit by a thunderbolt, but the subsequent defects were hidden inside and could not be treated on time.

It was a real mourning for Noiseans to see their beloved cedar disappear, but it is very likely it would not have survived the terrible Dec. 1999 hurricane, with the risk of heavy damages and maybe worse.

To retain the memory of The Cedar, a young Lebanese cedar, 35 years old and 11 m high, was planted in November 2000, with the help of the Lebanese Embassy.

Noisy le Roi emblem was kept … and rejuvenated.