Redbud, Eastern Redbud, or Judas Tree

(Fabaceae [also known as Leguminosae] - Pea Family)

Form

• small to medium-sized ornamental tree
• often maturing at 15' tall by 15' wide, but can become twice as large under optimum conditions
• upright vase growth habit in youth (if grown in an open area), becoming spreading rounded to irregularly-shaped (and often leaning) with age; however, it is often found with an irregular shape at the edges of forests and woodlands, where it stretches towards the limited sunlight
• rapid growth rate in youth, but medium growth rate after ten years

Culture

• full sun to partial shade
• prefers and needs a moist, rich, well-drained soil in partial sun to partial shade for long-term optimum performance, but is somewhat adaptable to many types of soils, soil pHs, dry soils, and other moderately stressful situations (except wet sites, which make it more prone to Verticillium wilt)
• the species form is propagated by seeds, while the cultivars are usually budded onto seedling rootstock
• Pea Family, with several disease problems, most prominently trunk canker (which causes individual branches or sections of the tree to die and often leads to an overall decline, often followed by heartwood rot), and also Verticillium wilt (which also leads to canopy dieback and often a slow death of the tree); scales are a fairly common pest problem
• abundantly available in ball and burlap form and increasingly in container form

Foliage

• emerging bronzed to medium green, slowly turning to dark green, and about 4" long and 4" wide
• alternate, broad ovate leaves have distinctly cordate bases, overall yielding heart-shaped foliage with prominent palmate veination
• fall color is often chartreuse and ornamentally ineffective

Flowers

• small, clustered, sessile dark brown floral buds swell to purple-lavender buds in early Spring, slowly opening to pink-lavender flowers, prominently displayed in April before the foliage emerges and persistent for two to three weeks
• flowers may be directly on the trunk or branches, but most are on two-year-old wood

Fruits

• flattened green pods change to brown pods containing small black seeds, in clusters on the twigs
• dried fruits may persist for over one year, but heavy fruit crops do not occur every year

Twigs

• zig-zag stems are lenticeled and dark brown (sometimes with subtle shades of purple or red in the stem color)
• vegetative lateral buds are small and purple-brown, while floral buds are slightly more plump and in clusters along stems, branches, and trunks
• terminal vegetative bud is absent

Trunk

• either single-trunked and low-branching, or multitrunked
• exterior bark is brown-gray in thin exfoliating strips or thin fissured plates in youth, becoming criss-crossing and raised with age, while the cinnamon-orange interior bark reveals itself with age, for an overall ornamental bark character
• trunks are often twisting, leaning, and decaying with age

ID Summary

• heart-shaped leaves occur on the new growth of zig-zag stems, while floral buds occur primarily on second-year wood but can arise from any branches and trunks of the tree, opening to lavendar-pink blossoms in early Spring before the foliage; ornamental orange-brown bark occurs with age, as the tree transitions from a juvenile vase shape to one that is rounded or irregular and leaning

USAGE

Function

• foundation, specimen, entranceway, group planting, woodland edge, naturalization, or Spring accent tree
• the species form can be used effectively with the white-flowering variety Cercis canadensis alba for a striking floral contrast at the same time in early Spring, and also as the first (or second) of a series of flowering ornamental trees in combination with Serviceberry (Amelanchier), Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), Carolina Silverbell (Halesia carolina), Crabapple (Malus), Chinese Dogwood (Cornus kousa), and Japanese Tree Lilac (Syringa reticulata) for a floral sequence of ornamental trees with white, cream, or lavendar/pink/red flowers in Spring and early Summer

Texture

• medium texture in foliage and when bare
• thick density in foliage and average density when bare

Assets

• striking floral display in April before the foliage emerges
• rapid growth in youth yields a quick ornamental tree
• ornamental bark with age
• vased growth habit in youth (V-shaped outline)

Liabilities

• often has a functional life of 10 to 20 years in urban landscapes due to a combination of urban stresses, diseases, and pests
• prone to trunk canker, heartwood rot, Verticillium wilt, and scales, the first three of which can be slowly fatal
• often leans with age
• somewhat prone to storm damage with advanced age (due to leaning and heartwood rot)
• poor fall color

Habitat

• zones 4 to 9
• native to the Eastern and Midwestern United States

SELECTIONS

Alternates

• early-flowering ornamental trees (Amelanchier, Cornus mas, Cornus florida, Halesia carolina, etc.)
• vase-shaped trees (Cornus kousa, Prunus serrulata, Ulmus americana 'Delaware', Zelkova serrata, etc.)
• small trees with ornamental bark (Chionanthus retusus, Cornus kousa, Parrotia persica, Stewartia ovata, etc.)

Variants

• Cercis canadensis alba - white flowers, providing an effective contrast when planted with the lavendar-flowering species form (moderate availability)
• Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' - new foliage emerges red-purple, becoming bronzed to dark green in Summer, with darker lavendar flowers in Spring, zones 6 to 9 (low availability)

NOTES Translation

• Cercis is the ancient name for the oriental Judas Tree, which is actually a different plant.
• canadensis translates as "of Canada"; however, the Northeastern United States is the northernmost limit of its range.

Purpose

• Eastern Redbud is a quick-growing small tree often used as a specimen tree, in group plantings, or in naturalized areas, noted for its early Spring accent flowering and vased growth habit in youth.

Summary

• Cercis canadensis is a popular small ornamental tree, whose assets of lavender-pink Spring flowers, youthful quick growth, youthful vased growth habit, and ornamental bark and branching character with age are constrasted with its tendency to have a short functional service life of about fiften years in many urban landscapes.