By Staff
Some sporadic rain and marginally warm temperatures are finally bringing the woodlands to life. Across the creek that flows through our yard the woods is now a solid palette of fresh, bright, spring green colors.
Except, that is, for one strikingly conspicuous mass of magenta pink standing out like a neon sign. It's a redbud tree whose showy flowers clash totally out of sync with the sea of green.
It's like Ma Nature accidentally tipped over a giant bucket of paint. It has been in bloom for a couple of weeks now and every day I find myself just sitting and staring at the gorgeous color show. The last few weeks I've been doing prescribed burns with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources up in the Allegan State Game area and there the redbud show is even better yet. In places the plethora of redbud and flowering dogwood are putting on a pink and white color display beyond description.
The redbud tree is so showy that one must think it is a carefully cultivated ornamental tree gone wild but that is not so. While it is used extensively for ornamental landscaping it is one of our native own. It occurs naturally throughout the eastern U.S. except for the New England states.
Its niche in the ecosystem is as a large shrub or small tree occurring in the understory of mixed deciduous forests. Oddly, the clusters of bright flowers sprout right from the tree limbs, and sometimes even the trunk itself, rather than just the branch tips like most other flowering trees. In this region they bloom from mid April to mid May. This is before the redbud's leaves come on so the tree is robed in just a mass of flower clusters with nothing to conceal their beauty.
There are several species of redbud trees found throughout the world. It seems weird but they are a member of the bean family. Ours is the Eastern redbud, scientifically named Cercis canadensis, which some decipher as the forest pansy. Another name commonly hung on the redbud's European counterpart is Judas tree, which has also carried over to our Eastern redbud as well. As the story goes, Judas Iscariot hung himself from a redbud tree after betraying Christ, thereby linking his name to the tree.
The wood of the redbud tree is unusual in that it is very hard and dense, which should equate to strong, but in the redbud's case it is very weak. According to the legend this is because after Judas hung himself the tree vowed to remain weak so no other could do likewise. On the other hand, if you're of a less dramatic bent you can side with those that say the name Judas tree comes simply from the fact that it is common in the Israel and Palestine region.
In the U.S. Appalachians green redbug twigs were used to season wild game meat and the tree was often called the spicewood tree. I've not tried it but reportedly the flowers have a pleasing acidic taste that goes great in salad. Some folks fry the flowers as well. Yum, grease soaked flowers. Folk medicine utilizes a potion made from the redbud as a treatment for dysentery. Apparently the edibility of the redbud is mostly a human thing, though, for only a few birds choose to eat the seeds or buds.
The redbud is mostly prized because it makes just about the perfect ornamental tree. It is fairly disease resistant. Since it is a tree of the forest understory it is very shade tolerant, a trait hard to come by.
Shade tolerance is best in younger trees and diminishes as the tree matures, though. Being naturally small it doesn't end up dominating your landscape. It is fast growing and begins flowering in just a few years.
After 20 years or so, just as we are growing really tired of it, the redbud becomes old and tired, develops heart rot and dies so we can cut it down with a clear conscience. Carpe diem.