Cercis occidentalis

Western redbud, Western Redbud

Family: Fabaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Western redbud is a California native shrub found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Great Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, southern California mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, Peninsular Ranges, and Modoc Plateau in dry, shrubby slopes, canyons, streambanks, chaparral, foothill woodland, and yellow-pine forest at elevations of 100 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces striking pink to magenta flowers clustered in small groups of 2 to 5 blossoms. Growing as a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree up to 7 meters tall with a graceful, spreading form, it develops smooth, glabrous branches. Its heart-shaped leaves are relatively small, typically less than 10 centimeters long, with leaf stalks 15 to 20 millimeters in length. The shrub produces distinctive elongated seed pods 5 to 8 centimeters long, adding visual interest to its landscape presence.

Habitat: Dry, shrubby slopes, canyons, streambanks, chaparral, foothill woodland, yellow-pine forest

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 100-1500 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, GV, SnFrB, SCoRO, SnGb, SnBr, PR, MP

California counties: Colusa, Kern, Shasta, Los Angeles, Mendocino, San Diego, Tehama, Siskiyou, Trinity, Fresno, Tulare, Humboldt, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Lake, Butte, San Luis Obispo, Yolo, Napa, San Bernardino, Santa Clara, El Dorado, Modoc, Plumas, Solano, Sonoma, Placer, Sutter, Santa Barbara, Nevada, Calaveras, Sacramento, Glenn, Amador, Merced, Yuba, Madera, Lassen, Ventura, San Joaquin, Stanislaus

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.