Judas tree

English

Etymology

From a European folk belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself on a tree of this species (the account in the Christian scriptures says he hanged himself, but gives no details).

Noun

Judas tree (plural Judas trees)

  1. A small deciduous tree, Cercis siliquastrum, noted for its prolific display of deep-pink flowers in spring.
    Synonym: European redbud
    • 1762 June, “The compendious System of Natural History”, in The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure‎[1], volume 30, page 297:
      The Spaniards and Portuguese title the siliquastrum the lovely tree, or tree of love; and we call it Judas tree, from a tradition, that it was the tree Judas hanged himself upon.
    • 1858, Adelaide Anne Procter, “The Wayside Inn”, in Legends and Lyrics‎[2], New York: D. Appleton, page 119:
      […] children, drawing water,
      Looked up and paused to see,
      Amid the apple branches,
      A purple Judas tree.
    • 1926, Vita Sackville-West, Passenger to Teheran‎[3], London: Leonard & Virginia Woolf, Chapter V, II:
      [The garden] is a tangle of briars and grey sage, and here and there a judas tree in full flower stains the whiteness of the tall planes with its incredible magenta.

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