Michigan Native: Yes
 
Alternate Names: Judas tree, Redbud.
 
Eastern redbud is a small deciduous tree. Trees typically grow 20 feet in height with a similar spread and have gracefully ascending branches and a rounded shape.  Leaves are alternate, simple, broadly heart-shaped and 3 to 5 inches high and wide. Leaves emerge reddish, turning green as they expand. Leaves are dark green in summer and yellowish in autumn.  The showy flowers are pea-like and rosy pink with a purplish tinge. Flowers develop before the leaves in spring, emerging in clusters along the branches. Redbud is ramiflorous, bearing flowers and fruits on bare branches. This is a rare trait in trees that grow in temperate climates. Flowers bloom between March and April and persist for 2 to 3 weeks. Flowers are pollinated by bees. By mid-summer the flowers are replaced by bean-like seed pods (legumes) that persist through the winter. Redbud flowers and young legumes are edible.  The fruit is a flat, oblong legume that is 2 to 3 inches long. Fruit ripen in October and may persist through winter. Legumes have small, red-brown seeds that are ¼ inch long. The seeds are scattered by birds and wind.
The thin bark is gray and becomes scaly on older trees.  Stems are slender, dark reddish brown to black and zig-zag.