Usually a shrub, as a tree up to 15 m with a trunk 50 cm across. Nearly circular leaves 6–14 cm long, pointed at the tip, heart-shaped at the base. Pink or purple-red (rarely milky white) pea flowers open before the leaves in dense clusters directly on the old wood and even the trunk, so the bare branches look wrapped in purple-red, hence the old Chinese name bare-branch tree. Flowers in April, pods in October. Various parts are used in medicine. Endemic to China.
Habitat
Hillside scrub, forest edge and streamsides, widely planted in gardens, parks and temples; drought- and cold-hardy.
Distribution
Endemic to China from the north through the centre to the south and the southern north-east; widely grown everywhere and introduced to Japan (hanazuō). Absent from Singapore.
Season and behaviour
Late March to April, before the leaves, with and slightly after the magnolias and forsythia; about two weeks.
Photography tips
These are the FilmAnalysis editors' notes, not content from the sources.
Flowers growing straight from the wood are the point: take a stretch of old branch or trunk wrapped in flowers, with side light for their depth; the purple-red is truest in soft light and goes magenta in sun. Cluster close-ups against the dark trunk. The heart-shaped leaves of late spring are worth a frame too.
Photographic styles
Purple-red wrapped round the wood; heart-shaped leaves in late spring.
Similar species
Cercis glabra (a tree, slightly larger flowers, southern); Judas tree and eastern redbud (introduced, slightly different colour and leaves); orchid trees (far larger flowers, two-lobed leaves, often miscalled zijing).
Related badge
None yet. No validated photo recognition exists for this species, so no badge is tied to it: a name in the encyclopedia is not evidence in a photograph.
The illustration is original FilmAnalysis artwork. No photographs yet: only photos cleared for commercial use with credit will be added.
Why it is listed: this species comes from the Flower checklist (GBIF backbone and Wikidata verified). Names follow the GBIF backbone and Wikidata; the facts follow the sources below; photo recognition is not offered.
