Complimentary 
NEW SERIES VOL. II 
NO. 5 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
BULLETIN 
OF 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN. MASS. MAY 27. 1916 
The Redbud {Cercis canadensis) is blooming well this year, although 
the flower-buds of this southern tree are sometimes killed in this lat- 
itude. The southern Redbud is a common woodland tree from southern 
New Jersey to Nebraska and to Florida and eastern Texas. Under 
favorable conditions it is often forty or fifty feet high, but cultivated 
here at the north it rarely grows to half that size. In some parts of 
the country, especially in eastern Oklahoma, southern Arkansas and 
eastern Texas, it makes in early spring one of the most brilliant floral 
features of the American forest. There is a white-flowered form (var. 
alha) which was found a few years ago in one of the western states, 
and a plant of this variety is now in flower on Hickory Path near 
Centre Street. The Texas Redbud (C. reniformis) lives in the Arbore- 
tum on Azalea Path, but the branches are often killed in severe win- 
ters and it has not yet flowered here. C. chinensis is also to be seen 
on the upper side of Azalea Path; it is a shrub from western China 
which has long been cultivated in Japanese gardens and first reached 
this country from Japan several years ago. The plants of Japanese 
origin were never hardy here but those raised from Chinese seeds are 
more successful and sometimes flower more fully than they are bloom- 
ing this year. The flowers are larger and are of a better color than 
those of the American species, and in the neighborhood of New York 
and further south this little Redbud is one of the most beautiful of 
early-flowering shrubs. Young plants of C. racemosa from central 
China have not proved hardy in the Arboretum. This with its long 
drooping clusters of large flowers is probably the most beautiful mem- 
ber of the genus. The Redbud, or Judas-tree of southern Europe, 
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