Western Redbud (Edible Plants on UC Berkeley Campus)

Western Redbud

Cercis occidentalis

Common names ⁴

California redbud

western redbud

Arizona redbud

Judas tree

Description ⁵

General: Pea Family (Fabaceae). Western or California redbud is a leguminous shrub that grows from 7 to 20 feet tall with a dense rounded crown that almost reaches the ground. Western redbud is recognized as Cercis occidentalis in older floras. The leaves are simple, thick, round or reniform, and cordate at the base, and have from seven to nine prominent veins. They are winter deciduous; their autumn display of yellow turning to red and brown rivaling that of some eastern hardwoods. The striking pea-shaped flowers appear before the leaves, in small fascicles along the branches. Each flower has five petals that range in color from magenta pink to reddish purple. Pollination is by bumblebees (Bombus sp.) and orchard mason bees (Osmia lignaria). Although the pink sprays can be seen from February through April, any one shrub will remain in flower only about two weeks. In autumn the branches often bear many clusters of pointed, flat, vary thin pods, the upper suture with a conspicuous winged margin. In ripening, the pods are first purple and then russet-brown, each containing an average of seven hard, bean-like seeds. The mature pods persist into the next winter. Known from the southwest U.S.

Distribution ⁶

California redbud occurs in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah [35,38,40,54,55,76]. Its occurrence in Arizona is restricted to a few scattered locations in canyons and mountains in upper desert and woodland zones. It is common in the Grand Canyon [49]. In Utah, California redbud is restricted to a few scattered locations in the southern part of the state [26]. The U.S. Geological Survey provides a distributional map of California redbud.

Habitat characteristics ⁷

California redbud occurs on dry, shrubby slopes [35,39,44,54,55] and rocky plains [39], in canyons [35,39,44,54] and ravines [35,44], along streambanks [13,32,35,44] and washes [39], and in chaparral [32,35,44,54,55] and foothill woodland ecosystems [35,44,54].

In the foothills of northern California, California redbud occurs at low elevations on north-facing slopes or near seasonal water courses [18].

Climate: California redbud is light and drought tolerant [44,72]. In California chaparral sites, California redbud persists where the winters are cool and wet and the summers are hot and dry [18].

Elevation: The elevation ranges for California redbud in the 4 states where it occurs are presented in the table below: State Elevation Arizona 4,000 to 6,000 feet [40,49] California 400 to 5,000 feet [35,54,55] Nevada 2,500 to 6,200 feet [39] Utah 2,168 to 4,053 feet [21,76]

Soil: California redbud can tolerate a wide range of soils [68,72]. In California chaparral, California redbud is found on granitic soils [32].

Edible ⁸

The flowers and the young pods of this easily grown plant is edible.

Sources and Credits

(c) J Brew, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by J Brew, http://www.flickr.com/photos/93452909@N00/5774058452
(c) James Gaither, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/13892958@N07/3449348287
(c) Tatters ❀, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/tgerus/6801045409/
Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/24635274
(c) USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/1380913
Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/24101160
Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/24635283
(c) jihyunan, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

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Western Redbud

Common names 4

Description 5

Distribution 6

Habitat characteristics 7

Edible 8