“The track to Agios Georgios (St. George) wound its way between high banks of maquis, the scented maquis of Greece. I could smell verbena, and lavendar and a kind of sage. Over the hot white rock and deep green of the maquis, the Judas trees lifted their clouds of scented flowers the colour of purple Daphne, their branches reaching land wards, away from African winds.”
The Moonspinners, 1962, Mary Stewart
I hadn’t read this book in years and remembered it full of descriptive sections about Crete; I had a vivid memory of mountains and the sea and tons of flowers. For some reason in this passage the description of the Judas trees really captured my attention so I looked them up—and did a double take. That’s a redbud tree! I thought.
Apparently there is a European variety of the redbud as well as the American one whose flowers are the first I forage in the spring for syrups and jelly. I also use it in springtime rituals (sometimes at Easter when it lands early enough) and this year did some dye experiments as well. In some areas of the US our redbud is also referred to as the Judas tree.
The Judas tree is called that because of a legend that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from this type of tree after betraying Jesus. According to the story, the tree's white flowers turned red with shame or blood, though the tree's flowers are now a natural pinkish-red. Another theory suggests the name came from a misinterpretation of the French name for the tree, "Arbre de Judée," which means "tree of Judea".
