Cercis chinensis Bunge

  • Authority

    Isley, Duane. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25 (2): 1-228.

  • Family

    Caesalpiniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Cercis chinensis Bunge

  • Description

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    Species Description - Glabrous shrub or small tree with stiffly erect, slender trunks. Leaves suborbicular- to ovate-cordate, shortly and abruptly acuminate, 5-12 cm, mostly .7-1 r, coriaceous, shiny above, distinctly lighter below. Flowering buds ovoid to conical, becoming evident in leaf axils by midsummer, conspicuous before flowering, often fasciculate, to 4 mm, with evident black, imbricate bracts. Inflorescences fasciculate, with axis to 2 mm. Pedicels 1-2 cm; calyx 5-7.5 mm wide; corolla bright pink-purple, (11-)12-14 mm. Legume stipe 1-2 mm, not evident above calyx; body shortly to narrowly oblong, 6-12 cm long, 1 -1.5(-1.8) cm wide, 4-10r, wing mostly 1.2-1.5 mm; hooked stylar beak evident on enlarging pistil and young legume.

  • Discussion

    Treated in the standard cultivated plant manuals, this species is also taken up for California by Doty and Johnson (1954), and Mathias and McClintock (1963). From herbarium records and my observations, it is nowhere common. In living condition, Cercis chinensis is distinctive. The Asiatic analogue of C. canadensis, it closely resembles that species but is more gaudy; the flowers are larger and brighter and the leaves are usually larger, heavy and shiny. Incomplete or vegetative cultivated herbarium material is, however, sometimes uncertainly differentiated from C. occidentalis and the larger-flowered, glossyleaved forms of C. canadensis. The foregoing series of keys provided may resolve most difficulties.

  • Distribution

    Cult, ornamental, occasionally planted in much of U.S. (March-)April-May. China. Cult, in Europe and Asia.

    China Asia|