Index / Search / Cercis canadensis

§1 Plant

Cercis canadensis L.

vernacular eastern redbud — species · Fabaceae


USDA
CECA4
GBIF
5353583
Rank
species
eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Platephotograph · dbarronossCC BY-NC-ND source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus
Cercis
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 517 counties across 14 states/territories
Legend Native · 517 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Low
Fire
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-28 °F minimum
Frost-free days
170 min.
Precipitation
20–80 in/yr
pH range
5–7.9
Root depth
24 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
30 ft
Height @ 20 y
25 ft
Foliage texture
Coarse
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Purple
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
18,000
Propagation
seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Fuelwood
Low
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 517 counties across 14 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 61 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 75 N
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N
Florida view state ↗ 25 N
Georgia view state ↗ 43 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 118 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 3 N
New Jersey view state ↗ 11 N
New York view state ↗ 7 N
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 32 N
Vermont view state ↗ 1 N
Virginia view state ↗ 92 N
West Virginia view state ↗ 47 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CECA4 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5353583 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T05:06:36Z