Cercis canadensis

COMMON NAME: Redbud, Judas-tree

FAMILY: Fabaceae

GROWTH HABIT: Small tree or shrub.

FOLIAGE: Simple, alternate, deciduous. Broadly heart-shaped, entire. 2-4 in. broad, dark green and glabrous above, very pale and glabrous or slightly pubescent beneath; margins entire; bases cordate, tips obtuse to short acuminate; petiole 1 - 1-2 in. long.

BUDS: Small, blunt, glabrous, purplish, superposed.

BARK: Dark gray, scaly bark when old.

FLOWERS: numerous, perfect, pink to purplish, in sessile clusters along the twigs, appearing before the leaves.

FRUIT: Oblong, flattened pod, containing several seeds. Pods brown, glabrous, thin walled, acute at both ends, 2 - 3 in. long.

NATIVE HABITAT: South Connecticut and southeast New York to Florida and west.