Redbud, American

perennial, an iconic tree of the Ozark Hills, a member of the legume family, bearing purple or pink flowers for a month each spring, followed by numerous straight green pods which dry and turn brown, leaves are cordate (heart-shaped), the tree's beauty is celebrated in paintings and bluegrass songs, on a more morbid note, the redbud is symbolic of treachery: history says that Judas Iscariot hung himself from a redbud tree, hence the name, Judas Tree used by some