Cercis siliquastrum, Juda's Tree, Mediterranean Redbud,
ذادي, Dhadi, כליל החורש

Scientific name:  Cercis siliquastrum L.
Common name:  Juda's Tree, Mediterranean Redbud
Hebrew name:   כליל החורש, Clil Hahoresh
Arabic name:  ذادي, Dhadi
Plant Family:  Caesalpiniaceae, Senna Family, קסאלפיניים

ישראל, פרחים, צמחי בר, פרחי בר, פרחים בישראל,כליל החורש

Life form:  Tree
Stems:  6 m high, 4 m width, slow growth rate
Leaves:  Alternate, entire, smooth, round or heart-shaped; thin not coriaceous
Flowers:   Small clusters of pink, 15-20 mm long, violet flowers, produced along the branches and trunk before the leaves appear
Fruits / pods:  Long flat pods c. 7.5-9.5 cm long, c. 1.7-1.8 cm broad
Flowering Period:   March, April
Habitat:   Mediterranean maquis and forest
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:  Mediterranean
Summer shedding:  Perenating

Cercis siliquastrum, Juda's Tree, ذادي, Dhadi,כליל החורש


Derivation of the botanical name:
Cercis, Greek, kerkis, a weaver’s shuttle, which Theophrastus likened the tree's flattened woody fruits to.
siliquastrum, siliqua, pod of a legume; astrum, suffix to nouns indicating incomplete likeness or inferiority, often used to distinguish a wild from a cultivated kind; siliqua (pod) like.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
Judas Tree, came from the story of Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ. It is said when he hung himself on one of these trees, the flowers turned from white to red because of his blood and the tree's shame. It has been known as "Judas-tree" for well over two hundred years and just how it was that tradition selected this tree, is not clear.

Bible resources:
  1. Matthew 27:3-8
    When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
    So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

    Cercis siliquastrum, Juda's Tree, ذادي, Dhadi,כליל החורש