Atlas Cedar ‘Glauca’ · Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’

Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca' is the steel-blue selection within the Glauca Group of the Atlas Cedar (cedro del Atlas), a species native to the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and Algeria. The cultivar is distinguished from the straight species by a consistent silver-blue to glaucous needle colour, held in dense tufts on stiff, horizontally borne branches. Habit is conical when young, opening into a broader, architectural crown of 15 to 20 m height by 10 to 15 m spread at maturity. Growth is slow to moderate, which suits long-horizon specification on parks, civic plantings, and the larger residential estate.

In Spain the cultivar performs reliably on the central meseta and in the inland zones of Andalucía, Castilla, and Aragón, where its deep pivoting root system handles continental summer drought once established. Mediterranean coastal sites in the Levante are workable on deeper, well-drained ground but salt tolerance is low, which excludes exposed seafronts. The Atlantic cornisa cantábrica is climatically tolerable provided drainage is sharp; Phytophthora root rot is the principal risk on retentive, water-holding soils. Winter hardiness is reliable to roughly -18 to -20 °C, covering meseta minimums in normal years.

Water demand is modest once the tree is anchored. Plan for supplementary irrigation through the first two to three summers while raízes reach beyond the torrão; thereafter mature specimens carry through the long Iberian dry season without scheduled water on deep soils, and tolerate irrigation cut-offs imposed under sequía decrees. The species sits outside the known host range of Xylella fastidiosa, which simplifies use in demarcated zones where Olea and certain Quercus are restricted.

Site the tree where the canopy can develop unobstructed: this is a focal specimen, not a street tree, and the deep taproot makes transplant of finished material a discipline rather than a routine. Foliage is flammable, a factor where projects sit in the interfaz urbano-forestal. Pest and disease pressure is otherwise low, and the silvered crown holds visual weight against the encina greens and cypress dark verticals of the Spanish palette throughout the year.