Eastern Redbud

Cercis canadensis

Fabaceae (Legume Family)

▲▼ mature, flowering trees

▲▼ flowers, even emerging from older wood on branches and tree trunks

▲▼ flowers

▲ mature tree in summer

▲ leaves

▲ fruit

▲ fall color

▼ 'Forest Pansy' cultivar of Eastern Redbud

 

▼ White-flowered variety of Eastern Redbud

Location on campus:  'Forest Pansy' on east lawn of Carrington Hall; others in lawn area south of Plaster Student Union, south of Ellis Hall, and many other locations on campus

Cercis canadensis: Eastern Redbud

· leaves simple, deciduous, alternate, cordate with entire margins and palmate veins; 3-5" long and wide; new leaves reddish purple (especially on >Forest Pansy= cultivar) then dark green and shiny above; often with good, clear yellow fall color

· stems slender, glabrous, dark red-brown, often zig-zag; pith has reddish streaks on older twigs

· bark is black or dark brown with reddish inner bark showing through on older trees and bark becoming somewhat scaly

· grows 20-30' tall and wide, often with multiple trunks or low branching; usually a rounded or flat-topped outline

· flowers bright pinkish-purple in bud in early to mid-spring, buds actually more colorful than flowers which are slightly lighter in color, appearing before the leaves; flowers in clusters at nodes, often all along the older branches and trunk, too; fruit is a brownish-purple pod

· prefers full sun to medium shade, and moist, well-drained soils; avoid too wet and too dry

· medium to fast growth rate

· native to Missouri

· Other redbuds:

o Cercis canadensis var. texensis: Texas RedbudC smaller growing than eastern redbud with glossier, thicker-textured leaves and stouter branches; flowers more reddish than species

o Cercis chinensis: Chinese RedbudC smaller than eastern redbud and flowers more of a fluorescent pink-purple

o Cercis occidentalis: Western RedbudC smaller than eastern redbud with notch in tip of heart-shaped leaf and pink to magenta flowers