THE RED'BUD OR JUDAS-TREE. 



109 



indeed, whether in flower or leaf it can 

 be mistaken for no other tree. In some 

 seasons it flowers partially a second time 

 in the autumn, but the seed-pods are 

 then its best ornament. Though seeds 

 rarely ripen, the long pods shaded with 

 reddish-purple are very handsome, es- 

 pecially when seen in a strong light, and 

 they hang upon the branches after the 

 leaves have fallen and often through a 

 great part of the winter. There is but 

 slight variation in the colour of the 

 flowers, but a less beautiful white form 

 is grown, and a worthless varie- 

 gated variety is also in existence. 

 It is a tree that grows well in the 

 neighbourhood of towns, need- 

 ing little care and space, and 

 content with any save cold, com- 

 pact and wet soils, and, when 

 once well started, will hold its 

 own in dry spots and even par- 

 tially-shaded corners. 



With such beauty of form 

 and flower it seems strange that 



so little use is 

 its Name. made of this tree 



in English gar- 

 dens, spite of its picturesque outline, its 

 endurance, and its hardiness. Though 

 the tree is common in Palestine there is 

 nothing more than an old legend, per- 

 petuated in antique engravings, which 

 connects it with Judas, and with proba- 

 bly the same exactness as has fixed upon 

 a dozen different spiny plants for the 

 crown of thorns; nor has the Judas-tree 

 an undivided claim, for other guesses 

 equally groundless have fixed upon the 

 Elder. The southerner does not allow 

 such trifles to mar the enjoyment of his 



favourite salad nor need anyone forego 

 the beauty of the tree for the sake of a 

 name which is easily changed to Red- 

 bud, its American equivalent. 



There are five or six other kinds of 

 Cercis, two of them from China (one of 



which reaches a large 

 other Kinds. size), a dwarf shrubby 



form from Afghanistan, 

 and three others from different parts of 

 North America. The best known of 

 these, the American Red-bud [C. cana- 

 densis), though less fine in colour, is 



THE JUDAS-TREE I LEAF, FLOWER. AND SEED. 



hardier than the Judas-tree and to be 

 preferred in northern gardens. The 

 large Chinese kind is rich in colour and 

 the flowers larger, but from difficult in- 

 crease it is rare in Europe though much 

 planted in Japan and a favourite tree in 

 temple gardens. Of the garden value of 

 the new kinds it is as yet too early to 

 speak. 



The Californian Red-bud [Cercis Calif or- 

 nica). — Known only as a low straggling shrub, 

 common in thickets of the Californian Pacific 

 coast, and only remarkable in the distinct shape 

 of its leaves. 



