Cercis

Cercis is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Cercidoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It contains small deciduous trees or large shrubs commonly known for the Judas tree in Europe or as redbuds in the USA. They are characterised by simple, rounded to heart-shaped leaves and pinkish-red flowers borne in the early spring on bare leafless shoots, on both branches and trunk ("cauliflory"). The genus contains ten species, native to warm temperate regions of North America, southern Europe, western and central Asia, and China. The generic name Cercis is derived from the Greek word κερκις (kerkis) meaning "weaver's shuttle", which was applied by Theophrastus to C. siliquastrum due to the resemblance of the dry seed pod to a loom shuttle. Cercis species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including mouse moth and Automeris io (both recorded on eastern redbud). The bark of C. chinensis has been used in Chinese medicine as an antiseptic. Cercis fossils have been found that date to the Eocene.