The Chinese Redbud (Cercis chinensis Bunge) is very similar to Eastern red bud but differs in the larger, usually deeper-colored flowers and in the translucent margins of the leaves.See description Eastern red bud.

Specimen Provenance:

Common name: Chinese red bud

Species Origin: China

New Jersey Status: USDA (no record)

Habit: Usually a small tree with the trunk dividing close to the ground forming a broadly spreading, flat topped rounded crown; 33’ tall.

Habitat: Zone 4 -9; mountain slopes, and woodland clearings. Draught tolerant but short-lived tree.

Trunk/Stem: Bark dark gray brown to black

Leaves: Deciduous, Simple, Alternate. Leaves emerge with the flowers. The leave is heart-shaped, 4” long and 4 ¼” wide; heart-shaped at base; apex attenuate; margins smooth; bronze initially becoming bright green and smooth above; smooth and hairy beneath; sometimes turning yellow in autumn.

Flowers: Perfect. Pea-like, 3/8” long, pink, born in clusters of 4-8, fascicled or racemose, on pedicels (1/2” long) along the old shoots and often from the main branch and trunk. Flowers have 5 unequal petals They blossom in spring to early summer as the leaves emerge.

Fruits and seeds: A flattened pod, true legume, 3” long, green becoming pink ripening to brown. Pod contains 6- 12 flat, brown seeds. Fruit often persists throughout the winter.