Judas tree
Cercis siliquastrumJudas tree is a low, spreading tree with rounded leaves, heart-shaped at the base. In May, clusters of purplish pink pea flowers break straight out of the bark of its trunk and branches.
How to identify judas tree →
Franco Folini, CC BY 4.0
Lookalikes
Judas tree or laburnum?
Both are pea-family trees planted for their flowers.
The quickest check
The quickest check is where the flowers grow. Judas tree: pink clusters straight out of the bark. Laburnum: yellow chains hanging in the crown. No flowers on the tree? Check the parts of one leaf.
At a glance
| Look at | Judas tree | Laburnum |
|---|---|---|
| Where the flowers grow | Pink clusters straight out of the bark | Yellow chains hanging in the crown |
| Parts of one leaf | One rounded blade, heart-shaped at the base | Three leaflets on one long stalk |
Two ways to tell them apart
Where the flowers growFlowers
Parts of one leafLeaves
The two trees
Laburnum
Laburnum anagyroidesLaburnum is a small tree with a narrow, sparse crown and leaves of three leaflets. In May, chains of golden yellow pea flowers up to 25 cm long hang from it.
Their other lookalikes
In the app
See them side by side in Treely
- Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
- Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
- A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
- The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them
Free to download.
Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.
Photographs: Franco Folini (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), rmjb (CC BY 4.0), sturuss (CC0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.