﻿Trees of New York State 271 



LEGUMINOSAE 



Cercis canadensis L. 

 Red Bud, Judas Tree 



Habit — A large shrub or small tree 20-25 feet in height with a trunk 

 diameter of 5-8 inches, occasionally 45 feet tall ^^'ith a trunk a foot in 

 diameter. Trunk straight, usually separating 8-10 feet above the ground 

 into a number of stout limbs which are either ascending and form an 

 ovate crown, or wide-spreading, forming a flat, shallow, broad crown. 



Leaves — Alternate, broadly ovate, 3-5 inches in diameter, abruptly acute at 

 the apex, cordate or truncate at the base, entire, 5-7-nerved, at maturity 

 medium thick, glabrous, bright green above, paler and glabrous below 

 aside from the tufts of hairs in the axils of the veins, borne on slender 

 petioles which are thickened at either end and 2-5 inches long. 



Flowers — Appearing in March and April before the leaves, or as the leaf - 

 buds open, perfect, papilionaceous, about % of an inch long, borne on 

 slender pedicels %-% of an inch long in lateral fascicles of 4-8. 

 Oalyx-tube dark purplish red, campauulate, oblique and gibbous at the 

 base, the 5 lobes short and rounded. Petals pink or rose colored, oblong- 

 obovate, rounded at the apex, the upper one the smallest, enclosed by 

 the lateral wing-petals and the basal keel-petals. Stamens 10, separate, 

 shorter than the petals, inserted in 2 rows on the margin of the disk. 

 Pistil short-stalked, inserted obliquely in the bottom of the caljTc-tube, 

 consisting of a pubescent 1-celled, many-ovuled ovary, a filiform, upcurved 

 style and capitate stigma. 



Fruit — A short-stalked, oblong or linear-oblong, compressed legume, 214-314 

 inches long, curved on one side, acute at either end, attaining full size 

 and turning pink or light brown by midsummer but persisting on the 

 trees into the autumn and early winter. Seeds broadly ovate, compressed, 

 thick-walled, chestnut-brown, about lA of an inch long. 



Winter characters — Twigs slender, zigzag, glabrous and somewhat lustrous, 

 dotted with many small lenticels, light brown, at length grayish brown. 

 Terminal bud absent. Lateral buds blunt, appressed, dark purplish red, 

 about 1/8 of an inch long. One; or two accessory, superposed buds often 

 present, the upper one the largest. Mature bark thin, reddish brown to 

 dark browna, shallowly reticulately fissured and scaly. 



Habitat — In rich moist soils on bottom-lands, along the borders of streams, 

 on brush lands and in open forest where it often forms a large part of 

 the understory growth. 



Bange — New Jersey westward through Pennsylvania and southwestern New 

 York to Minnesota, south to Florida and eastern Texas. Zones A and B. 



Uses — Of no importance as a timber species because of its small size. 

 Cultivated in this country and abroad for its ornamental value. 



