Edibility
Native Americans consumed redbud flowers raw or boiled, and ate roasted seeds. Analysis of nutritional components in edible parts of eastern redbud reported that:
- the flower extract contains anthocyanins,
- green developing seeds contained proanthocyanides, and
- linolenic, alpha-linolenic, oleic and palmitic acids to be present in seeds.
Read more about this topic: Cercis Canadensis