A tree that flowers straight out of its own bark, standing at the gate of a cemetery. Judas trees do not put their blossom on new shoots the way most trees do; the magenta flowers push directly through the old wood of the trunk and the heavy limbs, before any leaves appear, so for two or three weeks in early spring the whole frame of the tree is coloured rather than covered. Botanists recording Cordoba's remarkable trees name this one the largest specimen of its species in the province: two and three quarter metres around, though only ten metres tall, splitting into three arms below head height. It shares the entrance with a Mexican fan palm, two big red river gums and an uncommon jujube, in a cemetery that thousands of people walk through in the last days of October. Which is the wrong time to see it. Come in March instead, when the gate is quiet and the tree is doing the one thing it is famous for.
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Getting there
Cementerio de San Rafael, Avenida de Libia 2, 14005 Cordoba
You can recognise it by magenta flowers pushing straight out of the old bark and heavy limbs before any leaves appear, splitting into three arms low down. It stands at the gate of the Cementerio de San Rafael.
Free. The cemetery's own page lists 8:30 to 14:00 and 16:30 to 19:30 for 9 September to 31 October 2026, with other seasons differing; main gate on Avenida de Libia.
About 20 min walk east of the Mezquita
In bloom
March and April, when magenta flowers push straight out of the bare bark
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. The story was written with AI from these sources, and readers who know the tree correct it.