Cercis chinensis Chinese redbud

The earliest blooming of redbuds, its pink buds emerging from the bare branches in February, a full month before its eastern and western cousins. Branches tend to ascend and are cloaked densely with fuschia flowers, wands dipped into floral batter. Tender rounded leaves start emerging from the branch ends as the blooms mature and then fade, lending a distinctive two-tone effect to the branches. The leaves have pointed tips, like those of C. canadensis, but with 5, not 7, veins radiating from the base. The slender pods are scarce.

Three (now down to two) first appeared on campus in the Escondido Road and Campus Drive roundabout island in 2014; its stunning and surprisingly early bloom was not an insignificant distraction while trying to navigate that roundabout, campus’s first. Another was planted on the northeastern corner of Ng House when it was built (2015), along with several eastern and western redbuds. Shrubby, multi-stemmed ‘Avondale’ is on the right at 708 Salvatierra Street.