The Judas Tree

There are several legends about Cercis tees. The prominent one is that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from a tree of this genus. The flowers, with the characteristic keel of the pea (Fabaceae) family emerge directly out of the bark of the tree, from branches and even the trunk. This is an example of the North American species, Cercis Canadensis, also known as the redbud.