Cercis canadensis: Pleasing Year Round Palette of Eastern Redbud

Summary: Cercis canadensis is a New World tree native to central and eastern North America. Eastern Redbud has the greatest range of New World redbuds.

Eastern Redbud in March, Durham, north central North Carolina: Jane Shelby Richardson at Duke University (Dcrjsr), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cercis canadensis is a New World native in the popular, global genus of redbud trees. Cercis canadensis claims native homelands in central and eastern North America.

The resplendent spring bloomer is native to the province of Ontario in east central Canada.

A disjunct, or separate, population, ranges from Texas’ southwestern borders into northeastern Mexico.

In the United States, Cercis canadensis is native to 31 states in the Lower 48: one southwestern state (New Mexico); four Great Plains states (Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas); eight Midwestern states (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin); two South Central states (Kentucky, Tennessee); three Gulf Coast states: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi); and 13 East Coast states from Massachusetts to Florida.

Cercis canadensis is known commonly in English as Eastern Redbud.

Beyond its native borders, Eastern Redbud may be enjoyed via introduction or naturalization in all 48 states of the continental United States.

The popular ornamental thrives in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 4B through 9A. Eastern Redbuds withstand average annual minimum winter temperatures in ranges of minus 25 to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 31.7 to minus 28.9 degrees Celsius) to 20 to 25 degrees F (minus 6.7 to minus 3.9 degrees C).

Eastern Redbud reaches a height of 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9.1 meters), with an attractive spread of 15 to 25 feet (4.5 to 7.6 meters). The graceful silhouette of maturity is reminiscent of a vase, with branches angling upward and with rounded crown.

Although Eastern Redbud features close-grained, hard, heavy wood, the timber industry assigns no commercial value as a source of lumber because of deemed detractors of irregular shape and small size.

Valued by horticulturists as an ornamental, Eastern Redbuds are extensively planted in private and public landscapes.

The early spring bloomer opens flowers from March to May in a resplendent profusion of pink or reddish purple. Occasionally flowers appear as pale, almost washed out, pink or as white. Cercis canadensis 'Alba' is a cultivar, or intentionally cultivated variety, that produces showy white flowers.

During floral blooming, heart-shaped leaves appear, maturing in dark green showiness. In autumn, leaves illuminate the tree in showy yellowness.

Clusters of flat seedpods, each containing four to 10 black or brown, hard small seeds, appear first as youthful green and then mature as reddish brown.

Despite the lack of commercial appeal in the timber industry, Eastern Redbud is a giving tree, offering its pretty edibility for culinary and therapeutic uses.

Flowers, fresh in salads or fried as fritters, and roasted seeds comprise popular recipes.

Native Americans especially prize the efficacy of Eastern Redbud bark and roots as therapeutic remedies. Alabama, or Alibamu (Alabama: Albaamaha), of southeastern United States prepare an infusion of roots and inner bark for congestion and for fever. Cherokee (Cherokee: Ani-Yuⁿwiya) of southeastern United States prepare an infusion of bark for whooping cough. Lenape of Delaware River watershed prepare an infusion of bark for fever and vomiting.

Avian grazers such as Northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus), Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) and rose-breasted grosbeaks (Pheucticus ludovicianus) join small and large mammals such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and Eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in appreciation of Eastern Redbud seeds.

Eastern carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica) and honey bees (Apis) number among Eastern Redbud pollinators.

The Royal Horticultural Society, founded in 1804 in London, England, has recognized two cultivars of Eastern Redbud for excellence as garden plants with its prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM). Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ received an Award of Garden Merit in 1993. Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’ merited the award in 2012.

Since March 30, 1937, Eastern Redbud, designated as Redbud, has represented Oklahoma as the Sooner State's official tree.

Apart from ventures abroad, I have always lived in proximity to Eastern Redbud trees.

Their year-round beauty is a constant source of appreciation, grace and learning.

showy white flowers of Cercis canadensis 'Alba' in New York Botanical Garden's Native Plant Garden; May 5, 2013: Kristine Paulus, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Eastern Redbud in flower, mid-March, Duke Forest Korstian Division, Durham, north central North Carolina: Jane Shelby Richardson at Duke University (Dcrjsr), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cercis_canadensis_redbud_tree_bloom.jpg

showy white flowers of Cercis canadensis 'Alba' in New York Botanical Garden's Native Plant Garden; May 5, 2013: Kristine Paulus, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/kpaulus/8712510588/

For further information:

Brakie, Melinda. "Plant fact sheet for eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)." USDA Plants Database. USDA-Nacogdoches TX: Natural Resources Conservation Service, East Texas Plant Materials Center, 2010.
Available @ http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_ceca4.pdf

"Cercis canadensis." US Forest Service > Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) Database > Plants > Trees.
Available @ http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/cercan/all.html

Dickson, James G. "Cercis canadensis L. Eastern Redbud." Silvics of North America. Volume 2: Hardwoods. Agriculture Handbook 654. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture/Forest Service, 1990.
Available @ http://na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/cercis/canadensis.htm

Gilman, Edward F., and Dennis G. Watson. "Cercis canadensis: Eastern Redbud." Fact Sheet ENH304. November 1993; reviewed February 2014. University of Florida IFAS Extension > Redbud > Southern Trees Fact Sheets > Leguminosae (Fabaceae)(taxonomic family).
Available @ http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st145

Immel, Diana L. "Eastern Redbud Cercis canadensis." Plant Guide. Last edited: 01jun06.
Available @ http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_ceca4.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis mexicana: Purple Pink Spring Flowers of Mexican Redbud." Earth and Space News. Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-mexicana-purple-pink-spring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis occidentalis: Magenta Spring of California or Western Redbud." Earth and Space News. Saturday, May 2, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/05/cercis-occidentalis-magenta-spring-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis siliquastrum: Deep Pink Spring Flowers of Judas or Judea Tree." Earth and Space News. Monday, April 27, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-siliquastrum-deep-pink-spring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis reniformis Oklahoma: Magenta Spring Flowers of Oklahoma Redbud." Earth and Space News. Friday, May 1, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/05/cercis-reniformis-oklahoma-magenta.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis texensis: Showy Pink to Purple Red Flowers of Texas Redbud." Earth and Space News. Thursday, April 30, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-texensis-showy-pink-to-purple.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Eastern Redbud: Spring's Early Pleasing Pastel of Magenta Pink." Wizzley > Plants & Gardening > Plants > Trees.
Available @ https://wizzley.com/eastern-redbud-cercis-canadensis/

Moerman, Dan. “Cercis canadensis.” University of Michigan-Dearborn / Native American Ethnobotany.
Available @ http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl