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Redbud

Silhouette - redbud
  • Latin name: Cercis canadensis L.
  • French name: Gainier rouge
  • Synonym(s): Judas-tree
  • Taxonomic Serial Number: 25782
  • Hardiness zone: C6, NA4
Description

Leaves

  • Leaf with detail of swollen leaf stalk - redbud

Form

  • Deciduous, alternate, simple
  • Heart-shaped to rounded, tip short, blunt
  • 5–9 principal veins
  • Prominent, radiating from the base of the blade 

Width

  • 8–13 cm

Colour

  • Upper surface pale bluish-green
  • Lower surface lighter

Margin

  • Smooth

Petiole

  • Swollen where it meets the leaf blade

 

Buds

  • Lateral bud and leaf scar - redbud

Form

  • Terminal bud absent
  • Lateral buds slender, flat, pressed against the twig with 5 or 6 scales
  • Second very small bud may be present, partially covered by the leaf scar
  • Flower buds larger, rounded, stalked
  • In small clusters, on branches and trunk
  • Leaf scars raised, inversely triangular with 3 vein scars

Colour

  • Lateral buds dark reddish-brown

 

Twigs

  • Winter twig - redbud

Form

  • Slender, zigzag
  • 3 ridges extending down from each leaf scar

Colour

  • Reddish-brown
  • Pith pinkish, with darker streaks

Flowers

Form

  • Pea-flower shape
  • On stalks about as long as the flowers
  • Numerous, in small clusters along the trunk and branches

Length

  • About 10 mm

Colour

  • Deep pink in the bud, becoming pale pink as petals open

Structure

  • Synoecious

Floral timing

  • Early in spring before the leaves

 

Fruits

  • Fruit (left), seed (right) - redbud

Form

  • Flat pod
  • Pointed at both ends
  • Short-stalked
  • In small lateral clusters

Length

  • 5–10 cm

Colour

  • Pod reddish-brown

Structure

  • Legume

Seeds

Form

  • Shiny, flat, round, hard
  • 10–12 per pod

Colour

  • Brown

 

Bark

Form

  • Smooth when young, becoming scaly with age

Colour

  • Grey with reddish streaks when young, becoming reddish-brown

Size

Height

  • To 8 m

 

Tree form

  • Silhouette - redbud

Forest-grown

Trunk

  • Low
  • Many branches

Crown

  • Spreading, with horizontal and ascending branches

Habitat

Site

  • A tree of the understory and forest edges
  • Often along streams

Light tolerance

  • Shade-tolerant

 

Range

Native to eastern North America, from Mexico to the north
Natural range in Canada uncertain
Probably native in Canada on Lake Erie's Pelee Island

Photos

Photos

Distribution map
Distribution map - redbud