The Giant Redbud

While we love the typical redbuds that we’re all familiar with in our garden, only one plant stands out in the genus, as a true shade tree. While most redbuds that gardeners know, mature at 10-20′ tall, Cercis glabra towers above them all at a whopping 50-60′. This long-lived redbud is sadly virtually absent in home gardens as well as most botancal gardens. Since redbuds hybridize with any other Cercis species growing nearby, getting pure seed of this species has been an issue. Our plant below is from a Shaanxii, China wild collection by the JC Raulston Arboretum and the Atlanta Botanical Garden in 2019. Cercis glabra has been taxonomically muddled since the 1993 invalid (no type specimen or valid description) publication of Cercis gigantea. By most analysis, Cercis gigantea seems to be simply another name for Cercis glabra, although the lack of wild documented collections for proper DNA comparison has thus far prevented a final conclusion. Our five year old specimens are already 20′ tall. Hardiness is Zone 7a-9a, at least.