Editing Cercis

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the bean family Fabaceae}}
{{Redirect|Redbud}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Red bud 2009.jpg
|image_caption = ''C. siliquastrum'' (Judas tree)
|taxon = Cercis
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]<ref name="GRIN">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?2315 |title=Genus: ''Cercis'' L. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2011-04-17 |access-date=2011-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015040655/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?2315 |archive-date=2008-10-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|type_species = ''[[Cercis siliquastrum]]'' 
|type_species_authority = L.  (1753)
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = 10–24; see text
|synonyms = * ''Siliquastrum'' <small>Duhamel (1755), nom. superfl.</small>
|synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo/><ref>{{cite journal | title = Reorganization of the Cercideae (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae) | year = 2010 | author = Wunderlin RP. | journal = [[Phytoneuron]] | volume = 48 | pages = 1–5 | url = http://www.phytoneuron.net/PhytoN-Cercideae.pdf }}</ref>
}}

'''''Cercis''''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɜːr|s|ᵻ|s}}<ref>''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607</ref> is a [[genus]] of about 10 [[species]] in the subfamily  [[Cercidoideae]] of the pea [[family (biology)|family]] [[Fabaceae]].<ref name="GRIN"/> It contains small [[deciduous]] [[tree]]s or large [[shrub]]s commonly known as '''redbuds''' in the USA.<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=25781 |taxon=''Cercis'' |accessdate=2011-09-28}}</ref> They are characterised by simple, rounded to heart-shaped [[leaf|leaves]] and pinkish-red [[flower]]s borne in the early spring on bare leafless shoots, on both branches and trunk ("[[cauliflory]]"). The genus contains ten species, native to warm temperate regions of North America, southern Europe, western and central Asia, and China.<ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30001619-2 ''Ceratonia'' L.] ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 15 August 2023.</ref>

'''''Cercis''''' is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word κερκις (''kerkis'') meaning "weaver's shuttle", which was applied by [[Theophrastus]] to ''[[Cercis siliquastrum|C. siliquastrum]]''<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esMPU5DHEGgC |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names |volume=I: A-C |year=2000 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-8493-2675-2 |pages=485}}</ref> due to the resemblance of the dry seed pod to a loom shuttle.

''Cercis'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species including [[mouse moth]] and ''[[Automeris io]]'' (both recorded on [[eastern redbud]]). The bark of ''C. chinensis'' has been used in Chinese medicine as an antiseptic.<ref>redbud. (2008). In The Columbia Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/columency/redbud</ref>

''Cercis'' fossils have been found that date to the [[Eocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Jia H, Manchester SR | title = Fossil leaves and fruits of ''Cercis'' L. (Leguminosae) from the Eocene of western North America. | journal = International Journal of Plant Sciences | volume = 175 | issue = 5 | year = 2014 | pages = 601–612 | doi = 10.1086/675693 | jstor = 10.1086/675693 | s2cid = 84535035 }}</ref><ref name="MissisippiMiocene">{{cite journal |author1=McNair, D.M. |author2=D.Z. Stults |author3=B. Axsmith |author4=M.H. Alford |author5=J.E. Starnes |title=Preliminary investigation of a diverse megafossil floral assemblage from the middle Miocene of southern Mississippi, USA |journal=[[Palaeontologia Electronica]] |date=2019 |volume=22 |issue=2 |doi=10.26879/906 |s2cid=198410494 |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/pdfs/906.pdf}}</ref>

==Species==
''Cercis'' comprises the following species:<ref name = powo/><ref name="GRIN"/><ref name="ITIS"/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb?version~10.01&genus~Cercis&species~ | title = ILDIS LegumeWeb entry for ''Cercis'' | author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | website = International Legume Database & Information Service | publisher = Cardiff School of Computer Science & Informatics | access-date = 8 May 2014 }}</ref><ref name="PlantList">{{cite web | url = http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Leguminosae/Cercis/ | title = The Plant List entry for ''Cercis'' | date = 2013 | website = [[The Plant List]] | publisher = [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] and the [[Missouri Botanical Garden]] | access-date = 5 May 2014 }}</ref><ref name="Fritsch, P.W. 2018">Fritsch, P.W., C.F. Nowell, L.S.T. Leatherman, W. Gong, B.C. Cruz, D.O. Burge, and A. Delgado-Salinas. 2018. Leaf adaptations and species boundaries in North American Cercis: implications for the evolution of dry floras. American Journal of Botany 105(9): 1577–1594.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Flowers!! Leaves !! Scientific name!! Common Name !!Distribution
|-
|[[File:Redbud in Seven Springs.JPG|120px]]||[[File:Cercis canadensis BW-03080-81.jpg|120px]] ||''[[Cercis canadensis]]'' <small>L.</small>|| eastern redbud ||eastern North America
|-
|[[File:Cercis chinensis in Sochi.JPG|120px]]||[[File:Cercis chinensis's leaf.JPG|120px]]  ||''[[Cercis chinensis]]'' <small>Bunge</small>|| Chinese redbud || East Asia
|-
| ||[[File:Cercischingii.jpg|120px]] ||''[[Cercis chingii]]'' <small>Chun</small>||Ching's redbud ||China
|-
| || ||''[[Cercis chuniana]]'' <small>F.P.Metcalf</small> || ||China
|-
|[[File:Cercis chinensis 2zz.jpg|120px]]||[[File:Cercis chinensis 1zz.jpg|120px]] ||''[[Cercis glabra]]'' <small>Pamp.</small>||Yunnan redbud||China
|-
| [[File:Cercis griffithii.jpg|center|120px]]||[[File:Cercis griffithii ÖBG 2012-05-28 086 IMGP1419.jpg|120px]]||''[[Cercis griffithii]]'' <small>Boiss.</small>||Afghan redbud||southern central Asia
|-
|[[File:Cercis occidentalis flowers 2004-03-10.jpg|120px]] ||[[File:Cercis occidentalis, California.jpg|120px]] ||''[[Cercis occidentalis]]'' <small>Torr. ex A. Gray</small>||western redbud ||Western United States
|-
| || ||''[[Cercis orbiculata]]'' <small>Greene</small>|| intermountain redbud ||Arizona and Utah
|-
| ||[[File:Cercis racemosa in Eastwoodhill Arboretum (3).jpg|120px]] ||''[[Cercis racemosa]]'' <small>Oliv.</small>||chain-flowered redbud||western China
|-
|[[File:Cercis siliquastrum Judas tree flowering trunk at Myddelton House, Enfield, London 03 (cropped).jpg|120px]] ||[[File:Cercis siliquastrum kz1.jpg|120px]] || ''[[Cercis siliquastrum]]'' <small>L.</small> || Judas tree or European redbud ||Mediterranean region
|-
|}

<!-- Cercis arizonica was reclassified as Cercis occidentalis. -->
<!-- Cercis likiangensis was reclassified as Cercis chuniana. -->
<!-- Cercis pauciflora was reclassified as Cercis chinensis. -->
<!-- Cercis hebecarpa is a subspecies of Cercis siliquastrum. (kew) -->
<!-- Cercis yunnanensis was reclassified as Cercis glabra. -->

[[File:Cercis Siliquastrum Trunk and Blossom.jpg|right|thumb|The Judas tree (''Cercis siliquastrum'') often bears flowers directly on its trunk.]]
The Judas tree (''Cercis siliquastrum'') is 10–15&nbsp;m tall tree [[native plant|native]] to the south of Europe and southwest Asia. It is found in Iberia, southern France, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, and Asia Minor, and forms a low tree with a flat spreading head. In early spring it is covered with a profusion of magenta flowers which appear before the leaves. The flowers are edible and are sometimes eaten in a mixed salad or made into fritters with a flavor described as an agreeably acidic bite. The tree was frequently figured in the 16th and 17th-century herbals.  It is said to be the tree from which [[Judas Iscariot]] hanged himself after betraying Christ, but the name may also derive from "Judea's tree", after the region encompassing Israel and Palestine where the tree is commonplace.

A smaller Eastern American woodland understory tree, the eastern redbud, ''Cercis canadensis'', is common from southernmost Canada to Piedmont, Alabama, and East Texas. It differs from ''C. siliquastrum'' in its pointed leaves and slightly smaller size (rarely over 12&nbsp;m tall). The flowers are also used in salads and for making pickled relish, while the inner [[Bark (botany)|bark]] of [[twig]]s gives a mustard-yellow dye. It is commonly grown as an ornamental.<ref name="Garden Use">{{cite web | url = https://bernheim.org/learn/trees-plants/bernheim-select-urban-trees/eastern-redbud/ | title = Eastern redbud | date = 2019 | website = Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest | access-date = 3 June 2020 }}</ref>

The related western redbud, ''Cercis occidentalis'', ranges from California east to Utah primarily in foothill regions.  Its leaves are more rounded at the tip than the relatively heart-shaped leaves of the eastern redbud.  The tree often forms multi-trunked colonies that are covered in bright pink flowers in early spring (February - March).  White-flowered variants are in cultivation. It buds only once a year.{{citation needed|date = December 2017}}

The species of ''Cercis'' in North America form a [[clade]]. Hopkins (1942)<ref>Hopkins, M. 1942. Cercis in North America. Rhodora 44: 192--211.</ref> established a two-species system for North America which is still widely recognized. Alternatively, based on an exploratory morphometric analysis, Isely (1975)<ref>Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 25(2): 1--228.</ref>
inferred up to six separate entities (“phases”). Barneby (1989)<ref>Barneby, R. C. 1989. Fabales. In: A. Cronquist, A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren, J. L. Reveal, and P. K. Holmgren, eds. 1989. Intermountain Flora Volume Three. Part B. Bronx: New York Botanical Garden Press.</ref> recognized only one continental species and treated
all of western North American ''Cercis'' as ''C. canadensis var. orbiculata'', but the justification was cursory and not definitive.
Morphometric studies of North American ''Cercis'' <ref>Fritsch, P. W., A. M. Schiller, and K. W. Larson. 2009. Taxonomic implications of morphological variation in Cercis canadensis (Fabaceae) from Mexico and adjacent parts of Texas. Syst. Bot. 34: 510--520.</ref><ref name="Fritsch, P.W. 2018"/> indicate that, although morphological variation is strongly correlated with geography across North America, considerable overlap in flower, fruit, and leaf characters limit their use for taxon delimitation.

In contrast to morphology, molecular phylogenetic analyses recover three geographically well-defined clades
within North America, with California ''Cercis'' forming a clade that is sister to a clade formed by Colorado Plateau and
eastern North American clades.<ref name="Fritsch, P.W. 2018"/> Molecular dating suggests a divergence time among these three
clades of at least 12 million years. These clades were also inferred from a distance-based analysis of ''Cercis'' in the United States with isozyme data as reported in an unpublished Ph.D. dissertation (Ballenger 1992). On the basis of these
studies, ''Cercis'' is treated as comprising three species, with the Colorado Plateau and all Arizona specimens recognized
as ''C. orbiculata'', distinct from ''C. occidentalis'' from California and ''C. canadensis'' from eastern North America. This
delimitation of species will also be employed for the treatment of the genus for Flora of North America (Ballenger and
Vincent, in preparation).

The chain-flowered redbud (''Cercis racemosa'') from western China is unusual in the genus in having its flowers in pendulous {{convert|10|cm|0|abbr=on}} [[raceme]]s, as in a Laburnum, rather than short clusters.{{citation needed|date = December 2017}}

==Wood==
The wood is medium weight, somewhat brittle, of light tan color with a noticeably large heartwood area of darker brown, tinged with red.
The wood has attractive figuring and is used in [[wood turning]], for making decorative items and in the production of [[wood veneer]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Cercis Siliquastrum blossom closeup.jpg|''Cercis siliquastrum'' flowers on a mature branch
Image:Cercis siliquastrum0.jpg|''Cercis siliquastrum'' flowers and old seed pods
Image:RedbudBlossoms20070325.jpg|New redbud blossoms
Image:Cercis yunnanensis -3.JPG|''[[Cercis glabra]]'' in tissue culture
Image:Eastern redbud.jpg|Eastern redbud or white redbud at Missouri Botanical Garden
Image:RedbudPollen.TIF|''Cercis'' sp. pollen shot on an [[Scanning electron microscope|SEM]]
Image:Cercis yunnanensis (Jardin des Plantes de Paris) 1.jpg|''[[Cercis glabra]]''
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~ccdavis/pdfs/Davis_et_al_Syst_Bot_2002.pdf |first=Charles C. |last=Davis |author2=Peter W. Fritsch |author3=Jianhua Li |author4=Michael J. Donoghue |title=Phylogeny and Biogeography of Cercis (Fabaceae): Evidence from Nuclear Ribosomal ITS and Chloroplast ndhF Sequence Data |journal=Systematic Botany |year=2002 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=289–302 |access-date=2008-09-29 |doi=10.1043/0363-6445-27.2.289|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830084814/http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~ccdavis/pdfs/Davis_et_al_Syst_Bot_2002.pdf |archive-date=2008-08-30 |url-status=dead }}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline}}
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CERCI2 USDA PLANTS Profile]
*International Plant Names Index [https://www.ipni.org/n/30001619-2]
*Tropicos [https://www.tropicos.org/name/40004661]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q29033}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cercis| ]]
[[Category:Fabaceae genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]