noun
Usage: usually capitalized J
Etymology: so called from a belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself on a tree of this kind
: an often shrubby Eurasian tree ( Cercis siliquastrum ) that has glabrous shoots and rounded deeply cordate leaves and is widely cultivated in mild regions for its abundant purplish rose flowers which appear in early spring ; broadly : a tree or shrub of the genus Cercis