Reprinted from Rhodoh\, Vol. 25, November, 1923. 



LIBRARY 

 NEW YORK 

 BOTANICAL 



UAUDEN 



CERCIS CANADENSIS IN CONNECTICUT. 1 

 G. E. Nichols. 



About fifteen years ago one of my students brought into the labora- 

 tory a twig of redbud, Ccrcis canadensis, which he had collected 

 "somewhere on West Rock." West Rock is a trap ridge about 400 

 feet in height, situated on the outskirts of New Haven and site of the 

 famous Judges' Cave. It is included in the New Haven city park 

 system, but for the most part is in a natural condition, being very 

 largely covered with second growth woodland. Since the redbud 

 had not been recorded as a native plant northeast of New Jersey, 

 it was assumed at the time that the specimen in question must have 

 come from a planted tree; but subsequent inquiries from the super- 

 intendent of city parks elicited the information that no redbuds had 

 ever been planted in the park, which covers an area of about 200 

 acres, and until recently the source of the specimen remained a 

 mystery. 



One day last May, however, as I was driving along the crest of 

 the Rock, through woods that gleamed white with masses of blos- 

 soming dog-wood, my eye was caught by a mass of an entirely 

 different color — the rose-pink of the redbud. The mystery was 

 solved. 



There they were, a clump of half a dozen good-sized individuals, 

 ranging from half an inch to nearly two inches in diameter and up to 

 about a dozen feet in height, together with two or three smaller plants. 



'Contribution from the Oshorn Botanical Laboratory 



