Redbud

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Redbud buds

Redbud trees

Redbud fruit

Redbud bark

Redbud leaf

Redbud habit

Redbud leaf scat and bud

Redbud flowers

Redbud leaf

Redbud flowers

Redbud

Redbud Tree

Redbud leaf

Redbud flowers

Redbud leaf scar

Redbud flowers

Morphology

Trunk

Trunks usually single, to 1 foot in diameter; bark gray, smooth on young trees, reddish brown, furrowed on mature trees.

Twigs

Slender, pliable, dark brown to nearly black; leaf scars crescent-shaped.

Leaves

Alternate, simple, deciduous, long-stalked, heart- to kidney-shaped, 3 to 5 1/2 inches long, 2 to 5 inches wide, dark green and glabrous above, pale and glabrous or slightly pubescent below; margins entire; tips pointed or notched.

Flowers

On red stalks 1/2 to 3/4 inch long; calyces 5-lobed, purple, enlarged on lower side; corollas imperfectly papilionaceous, about 1/2 inch long, rose or pinkish purple; banner smaller than wings and keel; stamens 10, separate, in 2 rows.

Fruit

Pods, oblong, 2 to 3 inches long, 2/5 to 3/5 inch wide, flattened, pointed at both ends; seeds 8-12, oval, smooth, brown. The pods turn brown and persist through the winter.

Ecology

Habitat

Stream banks, woodland borders, stony draws, thickets, and roadsides, on sandy or silt sites.

Distribution

East half of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

Redbud often is used as a landscaping plant. It has a spreading, rounded to flat-topped crown. Native Americans made a tea from the bark and drank it to treat fevers, congestion, and vomiting. The Kiowa viewed the blossoms as a sign of spring. Flowering branches were placed in their homes to "drive away winter".

Additional Notes