Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Eastern Redbud
This beautiful, flowering tree is found in eastern North America as far north as southern Ontario and as far south as northern Florida.
Here in the Shenandoah Valley its conspicuous blossoms appear in mid-April, well before it and most other deciduous trees have begun to put out new foliage.
(Another "bare-branch" bloomer is Wild Azaela, which blooms in early May.)
Cercis canadensis is often seen beautifying fence lines in rural Virginia; one can see an especially pretty stand in thickets growing in low-lying fallow ground between the north and south lanes of I-81, just south of Staunton.
But, as seen here in the George Washington National Forest, this under-story tree or large shrub can also flourish in the dappled shade found beneath stands of taller trees such as oak and hickory.
Although these delicate pink blossoms are what make it conspicuous even from some distance, the common name is derived from the dark-red buds that begin to swell in the early spring.
Although I'm not recommending anyone emulate the practice, some enjoy the blossoms as a garnish in a salad.
One ethnographer reported that children in the Kiowa tribe enjoyed the blossoms right off the tree as a snack.
A member of the Leguminosae or Legume family, Redbud develops these pea-pods after the flowers have given way to its heart-shaped foliage.
Note: If you feel left out after somehow failing to enjoy a salad of the blossoms, as above, all is not lost: Some disciples of Euell—Stalking the Wild Asparagus— Gibbons school of gastronomy say the pods are a taste treat, too!
Allegedly, the young pods can be enjoyed raw, right off the tree .
Later in the season they can be prepared by steaming or braising in olive oil.
But, if not looking for a bite to eat, the seed capsules are interesting visually, too.
The reddish color theme of the flower buds having been carried forward through the blossoms, appears again outlining the edges the edges of each pod.
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Go back to the Main Directory to consider more lilies of the field.