Eastern Redbud
From Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia
Common Name: Eastern Redbud[1]
Scientific Name: Cercis canadensis
In 1781 Thomas Jefferson listed redbud in his Notes on the State of Virginia, as a native “Esculent” tree.[2] He intended it to be a part of his shrubbery scheme for the western slope of Monticello and in the clumps of trees planted in the angles of the house in 1807.[3] He likewise directed that redbuds be planted among clumps of native trees and shrubs at Poplar Forest in 1812.[4] One of the earliest American reference sto this tree belongs to John Custis in correspondence with Peter Collinson in 1735.[5]
It is often called “Judas-tree,” which actually refers to a Mediterranean species, Cercis siliquastrum, a species Judas supposedly used to hang himself.[6]
The Eastern Redbud is a hardy, deciduous, spring flowering tree with graceful heart-shaped leaves and purplish-pink, pea-like flowers.
Primary Source References[7]
1771 September 30. "Trees...Red-bud."[8]
1791 May 8. (Jefferson to Mary Jefferson Eppes). "May 4th the gelder-rose, dog-wood, redbud, azalea were in blossom."[9]
1818 April 11. (Jefferson to Jacob Bigelow). "The red bud blooms Apr. 2-19."[10]
Footnotes
- ↑ This article is based on a Center for Historic Plants Information Sheet.
- ↑ Notes ed. Peden, 40.
- ↑ Betts, Garden Book, 334.
- ↑ Ibid, 494.
- ↑ Ann Leighton, American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century (Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1986), 405.
- ↑ Joan Parry Dutton, Plants of Colonial Williamsburg (Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg, 1979), 48.
- ↑ Please note that this list should not be considered comprehensive.
- ↑ Betts, Garden Book, 23. Manuscript and transcription at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
- ↑ PTJ, 20:380.
- ↑ Betts, Garden Book, 579.
Further Sources
- Adams, Denise Wiles. Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, Inc., 2004
- Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants
