Cercis | |
---|---|
C. siliquastrum (Judas tree) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Cercidoideae |
Genus: | Cercis L. [1] |
Type species | |
Cercis siliquastrum L. (1753) | |
Species | |
10–24; see text | |
Synonyms [2] [3] | |
|
Cercis /ˈsɜːrsɪs/ [4] is a genus of about 10 species in the subfamily Cercidoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. [1] It contains small deciduous trees or large shrubs commonly known as redbuds in the USA. [5] They are characterised by simple, rounded to heart-shaped leaves and pinkish-red flowers 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. [2]
Cercis is derived from the Greek word κερκις (kerkis) meaning "weaver's shuttle", which was applied by Theophrastus to C. siliquastrum [6] due to the resemblance of the dry seed pod to a loom shuttle.
Cercis species are used as food plants by the larvae 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. [7]
Cercis fossils have been found that date to the Eocene. [8] [9]
Cercis comprises the following species: [2] [1] [5] [10] [11] [12]
Flowers | Leaves | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cercis canadensis L. | eastern redbud | eastern North America | ||
Cercis chinensis Bunge | Chinese redbud | East Asia | ||
Cercis chingii Chun | Ching's redbud | China | ||
Cercis chuniana F.P.Metcalf | China | |||
Cercis glabra Pamp. | Yunnan redbud | China | ||
Cercis griffithii Boiss. | Afghan redbud | southern central Asia | ||
Cercis occidentalis Torr. ex A. Gray | western redbud | Western United States | ||
Cercis orbiculata Greene | intermountain redbud | Arizona and Utah | ||
Cercis racemosa Oliv. | chain-flowered redbud | western China | ||
Cercis siliquastrum L. | Judas tree or European redbud | Mediterranean region | ||
The Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum) is 10–15 m tall tree 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 m tall). The flowers are also used in salads and for making pickled relish, while the inner bark of twigs gives a mustard-yellow dye. It is commonly grown as an ornamental. [13]
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 ]
The species of Cercis in North America form a clade. Hopkins (1942) [14] established a two-species system for North America which is still widely recognized. Alternatively, based on an exploratory morphometric analysis, Isely (1975) [15] inferred up to six separate entities (“phases”). Barneby (1989) [16] 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 [17] [12] 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. [12] 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 10 cm (4 in) racemes, as in a Laburnum, rather than short clusters.[ citation needed ]
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.
Mimosa is a genus of about 600 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. Species are native to the Americas, from North Dakota to northern Argentina, and to eastern Africa as well as the Indian subcontinent and Indochina. The generic name is derived from the Greek word μῖμος (mimos), an "actor" or "mime", and the feminine suffix -osa, "resembling", suggesting its 'sensitive leaves' which seem to 'mimic conscious life'.
The Mimosoideae are a traditional subfamily of trees, herbs, lianas, and shrubs in the pea family (Fabaceae) that mostly grow in tropical and subtropical climates. They are typically characterized by having radially symmetric flowers, with petals that are twice divided (valvate) in bud and with numerous showy, prominent stamens.
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, are a large and agriculturally important family of flowering plants. It includes trees, shrubs, and perennial or annual herbaceous plants, which are easily recognized by their fruit (legume) and their compound, stipulate leaves. The family is widely distributed, and is the third-largest land plant family in number of species, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with about 765 genera and nearly 20,000 known species.
Sambucus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly referred to as elder, elderflower or elderberry.
Cercis canadensis, the eastern redbud, is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, native to eastern North America from southern Michigan south to central Mexico, west to New Mexico. Species thrive as far west as California and as far north as southern Ontario. It is the state tree of Oklahoma. The prevalence of the so-called "Columbus strain" has seen the residents of Columbus, Wisconsin embrace the plant into their city's identity. Known as the "Redbud City," the town hosts "Redbud Day" annually the Saturday before Mother's Day, organizing a variety of themed events to recognize the tree.
Calliandra is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It contains about 140 species that are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas.
Cauliflory is a botanical term referring to plants that flower and fruit from their main stems or woody trunks, rather than from new growth and shoots. It is rare in temperate regions but common in tropical forests.
Senna, the sennas, is a large genus of flowering plants in the legume family. This diverse genus is native throughout the tropics, with a small number of species in temperate regions. The number of species is estimated to be from about 260 to 350. The type species for the genus is Senna alexandrina. About 50 species of Senna are known in cultivation.
The subfamily Detarioideae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae (legumes). This subfamily includes many tropical trees, some of which are used for timber or have ecological importance. The subfamily consists of 84 genera, most of which are native to Africa and Asia. Pride of Burma and tamarind are two of the most notable species in Detarioideae. It has the following clade-based definition:
The most inclusive crown clade containing Goniorrhachis marginataTaub. and Aphanocalyx cynometroidesOliv., but not Cercis canadensisL., Duparquetia orchidaceaBaill., or Bobgunnia fistuloides(Harms) J. H. Kirkbr. & Wiersema.
Cercis occidentalis, the western redbud or California redbud, is a small tree or shrub in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is found across the American Southwest, from California to Utah and Arizona.
Cercis siliquastrum, commonly known as the Judas tree or Judas-tree, is a small deciduous tree in the flowering plant family Fabaceae which is noted for its prolific display of deep pink flowers in spring. It is native to Southern Europe and Western Asia.
Rupert Charles Barneby was a British-born self-taught botanist whose primary specialty was the Fabaceae (Leguminosae), the pea family, but he also worked on Menispermaceae and numerous other groups. He was employed by the New York Botanical Garden from the 1950s until shortly before his death.
Cercidoideae is a subfamily in the pea family, Fabaceae. Well-known members include Cercis (redbuds), including species widely cultivated as ornamental trees in the United States and Europe, Bauhinia, widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in tropical Asia, and Tylosema, a semi-woody genus of Africa. The subfamily occupies a basal position within the Fabaceae and is supported as monophyletic in many molecular phylogenies. At the 6th International Legume Conference, the Legume Phylogeny Working Group proposed elevating the tribe Cercidae to the level of subfamily within the Leguminosae (Fabaceae). The consensus agreed to the change, which was fully implemented in 2017. It has the following clade-based definition:
The most inclusive crown clade containing Cercis canadensisL. and Bauhinia divaricataL. but not Poeppigia proceraC.Presl, Duparquetia orchidaceaBaill., or Bobgunnia fistuloides(Harms) J.H.Kirkbr. & Wiersema.
Samanea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It includes four species of trees native to the tropical Americas, ranging from Belize to Paraguay, and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. Habitats include tropical moist evergreen and seasonally-dry deciduous forest, woodland, and wooded grassland. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. The type species is Samanea saman from South America.
The tribe Sophoreae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae. Traditionally this tribe has been used as a wastebasket taxon to accommodate genera of Faboideae which exhibit actinomorphic, rather than zygomorphic floral symmetry and/or incompletely differentiated petals and free stamens. Various morphological and molecular analyses indicated that Sophoreae as traditionally circumscribed was polyphyletic. This led to a re-circumscription of Sophoreae, which resulted in the transfer of many genera to other tribes. This also necessitated the inclusion of two former tribes, Euchresteae and Thermopsideae, in the new definition of Sophoreae. Tribe Sophoreae, as currently circumscribed, consistently forms a monophyletic clade in molecular phylogenetic analyses. The Sophoreae arose 40.8 ± 2.4 million years ago.
Cercis chinensis, the Chinese redbud, is a plant in the legume the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to China, where it grows in southern and north-central China and Manchuria.
The Yerevan Botanical Garden of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, is the body responsible for plant collections in Armenia. It is located in the Avan district at the north-eastern part of the capital Yerevan, occupying around 80 hectares of a semi-deserted area. The collection includes more than 200 species of endemic, rare and declining plants, and provides a basis, in a relatively natural environment, for the study of the Armenian flora and the ecological interactions between plant species.
Frasera caroliniensis, commonly known as American columbo or yellow gentian, is a herbaceous perennial of the gentian family Gentianaceae found in the deciduous forest of Southern Ontario and throughout the eastern and southeastern United States. It was previously known as Swertia caroliniensis.
The subfamily Dialioideae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae (legumes). This subfamily includes many tropical trees and shrubs. The subfamily consists of 17 genera, which are widespread throughout the tropics. It has the following clade-based definition:
The most inclusive crown clade containing Poeppigia proceraC.Presland Dialium guianense(Aubl.) Sandwith, but not Cercis canadensisL., Duparquetia orchidaceaBaill., or Bobgunnia fistuloides(Harms) J. H. Kirkbr. & Wiersema
Senna surattensis is a plant species of the legume family (Fabaceae) in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae.
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