Judas tree

American  

noun

1. a purple-flowered Eurasian tree, Cercis siliquastrum, of the legume family, supposed to be the kind upon which Judas hanged himself.

2. any of various other trees of the same genus, as the redbud.

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Judas tree British  

noun

1. small Eurasian leguminous tree, Cercis siliquastrum, with pinkish-purple flowers that bloom before the leaves appear: popularly thought to be the tree on which Judas hanged himself See also redbud

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Etymology

Origin of Judas tree

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

There are more boats at its wharves than buds on yonder Judas tree.

From Lewis Rand by Johnston, Mary

A few nut pines and cedars are found, and occasionally a redbud or Judas tree; but the general aspect of the canyons and of the adjacent country is that of naked rock.

From Canyons of the Colorado by Powell, John Wesley

Violet and bloodroot, dogwood and purple Judas tree were all bespangled, bespangled with dew.

From The Long Roll by Johnston, Mary

As for the Judas tree, she hadn't an idea what it was, and gazed at it out there against the sky with the rapt expression of one who sees a heavenly vision.

From The Enchanted April by Elizabeth

The tall dogwood, with its clusters of large flowers like swarms of white butterflies, mingled with the Judas tree, whose leafless boughs were densely covered with racemes of purple blossoms.

From Three Years in the Sixth Corps A Concise Narrative of Events in the Army of the Potomac, from 1861 to the Close of the Rebellion, April, 1865 by Stevens, George T.