Cercis canadensis   

Eastern Redbud

Family: Fabaceae
Zone: 4-9                                Average Size: 20’H x 15’W

Identification: 

-Simple leaf, heart-shaped, dull green
-Small flowers in clusters on branches in spring, light lavender
-Fruit is a flat, 2-3” pea pod, turning brown and persisting through winter
-Black-brown stems, smooth with lenticels

Note:   A small native tree widely distributed in the eastern United States, but usually absent from coastal regions and poorly drained soils. Although easier to establish than dogwood and other understory trees, in the lower South the Eastern Redbud is poorly adapted and considered short-lived. Many notable varieties and cultivars exist including the White Flowering Redbud (var. alba), the Oklahoma Redbud (subsp. texensis) which is more adapted to dry soils and ‘Forest Pansy’ with scarlet-purple foliage.

Campus Location: Middleton Library, west of main entrance