JUDAS TREE. A tree not found in Scripture. It is only by inference in Matthew 27:5 that any tree is mentioned at all. “Judas went and hanged himself.”

Legend has it that the tree concerned was Cercis siliquastrum, called the Judas Tree for over 200 years. It is given this name because reddish flowers like drops of blood appear before the foliage, not only on the young wood, but straight out of the trunk itself. Tradition has it that the tree weeps blood each Spring in memory of Judas.

The leaves are shaped like a heart—this is said to refer to the hard heart of Judas.

The tree is a native of Pal. It grows about 30 feet tall, and could provide branches on which a man could hang.