Plant · P-065

Eastern Redbud

Cercis canadensis

Eastern Redbud lights up bare branches with pink flowers from March through May, ahead of leaf-out, putting a full tree of nectar into the gap when bumble bee queens have almost nothing else open. The flowers themselves are edible - tart, high in vitamin C, good raw or pickled - and the unopened buds work as a caper substitute. Despite belonging to the legume family, it does not fix nitrogen at all. It is a true understory tree of rich woods and stream ravines, so it takes afternoon shade in a hot summer as a benefit rather than a bare tolerance, and it dislikes both wet clay and drought equally.