2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Cercis (lat. Cercis) - a flowering plant from the legume family. The second, unofficial name is Judas tree. Also, cercis is often called crimson. And translated from Latin, the word cercis sounds like "weaving shuttle".
Description
Cercis is flowering, medium-sized deciduous trees or shrubs endowed with spreading crowns, which are most often either one-sided or irregular in shape. Their trunks are covered with black-brown bark, and numerous cracks are scattered over the entire surface of this bark. On the branches, the bark of the plant is painted in brownish-grayish tones, and on young shoots it is usually smooth and slightly reddish.
The diameter of the cercis leaves sitting on long petioles can reach up to ten centimeters. All these leaflets are reniform, alternate, with finger-veined and cordate bases. And they are also considered false-simple - this is nothing more than the result of the accretion of the upper pairs of leaves in complex sheets.
Irregular flowers of cercis are equipped with moth corollas, which gather in bunches or brushes and have a lilac or pink color. In this case, the aforementioned bunches and brushes can be formed both in the leaf sinuses and directly on the branches.
The fruits of cercis are in the form of beans, inside of which there are seeds of a round-elongated shape in an amount of four to seven pieces.
In total, the genus Cercis has from six to ten species - in different sources this number is indicated in different ways.
Where grows
Most often, cercis can be found in the Transcaucasus, the Mediterranean, North America and a number of regions of Asia, in particular, in Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and the southern Pamirs. And the Eastern Mediterranean is considered to be the birthplace of this delightful tree.
Usage
Cercis will look equally good both in single plantings and in group plantings in combination with various conifers, against which the cercis looks simply amazing, especially in spring! And also these trees are perfectly combined with other plants from the same family, for example, with the common bean, blooming at the same time. In general, cercis looks very impressive in all seasons, including in winter - at this time graceful bunches of beans flaunt on its branches with trunks.
And in the southern regions from cercis, magnificent decorative hedges are obtained. In addition, this plant is often planted in alleys.
Growing and caring
All varieties of cercis are very thermophilic, so they should be grown in the open sun, in well-drained soils with lime content. This handsome man will grow especially well on the southern side of houses or on the southern slopes of the hills. But the site must be reliably protected from drafts! You should not plant cercis in the immediate vicinity of rapidly developing and too large plants - over time, more powerful plants will begin to actively suppress it.
Cercis is watered only when dry weather is established, and even then only as needed, since this plant is characterized by a fairly high drought resistance. And fertilizing with organic fertilizers is carried out only once a year, ideally in May.
Cercis is propagated mainly by seeds, but the development of its seedlings is very slow. And, importantly, young specimens need proper insulation for the winter. In addition, in some cases, they need formative pruning - it is recommended to prune only those young shoots that in no way contribute to the correct formation of crowns. As for the adult branches, they are not cut off unnecessarily.
