Judas tree
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Judas tree:
see redbudredbudor Judas tree,
name for trees and shrubs of the genus Cercis, handsome plants of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), covered along the branches in the early spring with deep rose or (rarely) white flowers resembling pea blossoms.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Judas Tree
(Cercis siliquastrum), a tree of the family Leguminosae. It attains a height of 7 to 15 m. Its leaves are deciduous, round, blunt, entire, and deeply cordate at the base. The flowers are bisexual and bright pink in color, and grow in clusters of three to six on the stem, on old branches, and in leaf axils. The fruit is a flat, many-seeded pod. The tree blossoms in the spring, before leafing, and reproduces by seeds.
The Judas tree grows wild on rocky slopes and calcareous rocks in southern Europe and southwestern Asia. In the USSR it is found in the wild state in the Crimea, the Caucasus, and Middle Asia. It is cultivated chiefly as an ornamental, but its lumber is sometimes used in woodworking and its buds as a pungent seasoning in sauces.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.