Judas tree

English
Judas tree

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, “The compendious System of Natural History,” The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, Volume 30, June 1762, p. 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, New York: D. Appleton, p. 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, 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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