Judas Tree has grown in the gardens of southern Europe and western Asia for centuries, its rose-purple flowers treated as one of the surest signs of spring long before northern Europeans knew what a redbud was. The flowers are notably larger than those of most Cercis species, appearing in dense clusters directly on the stems and branches before any leaves emerge — a phenomenon called cauliflory that gives the tree an almost otherworldly quality in full bloom. The leaves that follow are among the most rounded in the genus, lacking the sharp tip of Cercis canadensis, and they emerge as burnished bronze-red before maturing to deep green through summer.

This is a tree that rewards patience and dislikes disturbance. Plant it young, choose its site carefully, and leave it alone — it is famously reluctant to be transplanted once established. A sheltered position in well-drained, fertile soil suits it best; it will not tolerate wet feet, and in colder gardens it benefits from the protection of a warm wall. Growing 15 to 25 feet tall and equally wide, it functions beautifully as a specimen tree, its flat purple seed pods extending the ornamental season well into autumn. The name Judas Tree carries the weight of old legend, but in the garden it inspires nothing but admiration.