It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religious and historical significance in the cultures of the Middle East, and is referenced many times in the literature of ancient civilisations.

[6] The rough and scaly bark is dark grey to blackish brown, and is run through by deep, horizontal fissures that peel in small chips.

The crown is conical when young, becoming broadly tabular with age with fairly level branches; trees growing in dense forests maintain more pyramidal shapes.

The leaves are needle-like, arranged in spirals and concentrated at the proximal end of the long shoots, and in clusters of 15–35 on the short shoots; they are 5 to 35 mm (0.20 to 1.38 in) long and 1 to 1.5 mm (0.039 to 0.059 in) wide, rhombic in cross-section, and vary from light green to glaucous green with stomatal bands on all four sides.

stenocoma (the Taurus cedar), considered a subspecies in earlier literature, is now recognized as an ecotype of C. libani var.

The tree grows in well-drained calcareous lithosols on rocky, north- and west-facing slopes and ridges and thrives in rich loam or a sandy clay in full sun.

[5][17] Its natural habitat is characterized by warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters with an annual precipitation of 1,000 to 1,500 mm (39 to 59 in); the trees are blanketed by a heavy snow cover at the higher elevations.

[5] In Lebanon and Turkey, it occurs most abundantly at elevations of 1,300 to 3,000 m (4,300 to 9,800 ft), where it forms pure forests or mixed forests with Cilician fir (Abies cilicica), European black pine (Pinus nigra), Turkish pine (Pinus brutia), and several juniper species.

brevifolia grows in similar conditions in the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus at medium to high elevations ranging from 900 to 1,525 m (2,953 to 5,003 ft).

The Lebanon cedar recognized by the state is located inside Hot Springs National Park and is estimated to be over 100 years old.

[27][28] When the first cedar of Lebanon was planted in Britain is unknown, but it dates at least to 1664, when it is mentioned in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber by John Evelyn.

[31] In order to germinate Cedrus libani seeds, potting soil is preferred, since it is less likely to contain fungal species which may kill the seedling in its early stages.

Before sowing it is important to soak the seed at room temperature for a period of 24 hours followed by cold stratification (~3–5°C) for two to four weeks.

In Turkey, shelterwood cutting and clearcutting techniques are used to harvest timber and promote uniform forest regeneration.

The first was made by the Roman emperor Hadrian; he created an imperial forest and ordered it marked by inscribed boundary stones, two of which are in the museum of the American University of Beirut.

In Turkey, over 50 million young cedars are planted annually, covering an area around 300 square kilometres (74,000 acres).

[37][38] Lebanese cedar populations are also expanding through an active program combining replanting and protection of natural regeneration from browsing goats, hunting, forest fires, and woodworms.

Armillaria mellea (commonly known as honey fungus) is a basidiomycete that fruits in dense clusters at the base of trunks or stumps and attacks the roots of cedars growing in wet soils.