Addisonia 33 



(Plate 209) 

 CERCIS CHINENSIS 

 Chinese Redbud 



Native of China ^ 



Family Cabsalpiniaceab Senna Family 



Cercis chinensis Bunge, M6m. Sav. Etr. St.-Petersb. 2: 95. 1835. 

 Cercis japonica Siebold; Planch. Fl. Serres 8: 269. 1853. 



The redbuds, wherever they grow, both naturally and in culti- 

 vation, belong to the first order of conspicuous flowering shrubs or 

 small trees, in early spring. Both our native kind and the imported 

 ones have been favorite shrubs for gardens large enough to accomo- 

 date such plantings. The visual effect of the flowering plants, 

 en masse, on a wooded hillside is such as to suggest an illumination 

 or a conflagration. This is especially pronounced when the planting 

 is in the partial shade of tall trees. The illusion is more pronounced 

 in the Chinese redbud than in the case of our native species, for 

 the flowers are of a brighter tint, as well as larger, and there is 

 usually more red to impress the eye. 



The specimens from which the accompanying plate was made 

 agree with the Chinese plants in the flower, in both size and details, 

 but the leaves have thinner and less glossy blades and the pods 

 are elliptic, instead of linear. 



This plant is said to have been first introduced into America 

 from Japan, whence it has been brought into cultivation from 

 China. 



The discrepancies in the leaves and fruits may indicate that the 

 plants cultivated in the New York Botanical Garden are of hybrid 

 origin, hence of impure blood, or further study may prove them to 

 represent an undescribed species. 



The Chinese redbud is a shrub in cultivation, said to be a tree 

 in its native habitats. The leaves are numerous, with solitary 

 leaflets which are orbicular-ovate to orbicular-reniform, leathery, 

 mostly two and a half to four inches long, cordate at the base, 

 abruptly blunt-tipped or acute at the apex, and rather long- 

 petioled. The flowers appear before the leaves and are borne in 

 contiguous clusters on the branches and branchlets. The calyx is 

 cap-like, somewhat oblique, red or red-tinged, with five broad 

 rounded lobes shorter than the tube. The corolla is deep-pink, 

 about three quarters of an inch long; the keel-petals are slightly 



