Eastern Redbud

Throughout the bark are small buds that will develop into flowers that bloom in the spring. Once in bloom, the flowers become a great food source for insects, especially bees, at the beginning of spring. Bees aren’t the only insects that interact with this tree; some can be dangerous to its health. Species like leafhoppers and treehoppers eat the leaves, fruit, sap, bark, and tissue, spreading diseases and viruses that can kill the tree.

One internal interaction, the Rhizobium bacteria, is extremely helpful to the eastern redbud. A nitrogen-fixing bacterium, it forms a symbiotic relationship with the tree’s roots and provides an increase in nitrogen for the tree, which shares sugars with the bacteria. Such a symbiosis can greatly improve the tree’s growth since nitrogen availability is often a limiting growth factor for plants.

Eastern redbuds are bisexual or monoecious, meaning they produce male and female sex cells for reproduction. The trees can self-pollinate or be pollinated by bees. This means that they have many reproduction options—pollination within the same flower, from one flower to another on the same tree, or between the flowers of different trees. The flowers bloom before leaves emerge in early spring.

Eastern redbud leaves are thin, around four inches long, and heart-shaped. They change color with the seasons, starting green in early spring and turning darker closer to summer. In the fall, the leaves turn yellow-green before dropping. Fairly long-lived, eastern redbuds have a lifespan of around 75 years.

The eastern redbud is a fascinating and valuable tree – not only as a source of nutrition for early pollinators but also for human health.

*This resource is a product of Dr. Sara Wright’s Plant Diversity course in the Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences.