Spring's Pink-Flowering Redbud Trees Guided Early West Virginia Settlers. Edible Flowers 🌺
West Virginia Explorer, March 24, 2025. Ed.
HINTON, W.Va. — Blossoming across the eastern U.S. in spring, redbud trees were notably important during the settlement of the Appalachian Mountains, where they indicated the presence of some of the best soil for farming. Today, the pink-blooming trees, which also thrive in urban settings, provide an opportunity for city dwellers to experience a natural harvest and experiment with recipes using the tree's sweet flowers, which were shared by mountain folk.
"The redbud and black walnut are two trees that required good soil," said Anthony Tomkowski, professor emeritus of forest resources management at West Virginia University. Settlers in the Appalachians thus learned that the two species indicated the presence of good cropland, which was at a premium in the mountains where the soil is often acidic. He says Eastern redbud, formerly known as Cercis canadensis, is much more at home in basic or sweet soils that contain more limestone. "If you want to see a good example of this, travel the interstate up to Coopers Rock State Forest, where you see bands of redbud growing where the limestone outcrops," he said.
Redbud may best be known as one of the first native plants to blossom in West Virginia. Along with the white-blossomed serviceberry tree, it famously flowers in the mountains in April.
According to Dr. Gregory Dahle, coordinator for the university's Forest Resources Management and Wood Science and Technology programs, the flowers are edible and make delicious recipes. "They're edible, and they're tasty," says Dahle, who regularly takes students to see redbud specimens planted on campus. "The thing about redbud is that it can be found growing in urban settings, so it provides people with an interesting opportunity to interact with this tree in their own backyards," he said. Among the largest flowering plants native to West Virginia, the redbud grows across North America from Ontario south to northern Florida and is the state tree of Oklahoma...
https://wvexplorer.com/2025/03/24/pink-flower-trees-redbud-west-virginia/
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we need all of the 'positives' we can find 