Cercidoideae

{{Short description|Subfamily of legumes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|57|0|Late Paleocene - recent|ref={{Cite web |title=Fabales|url=https://mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/orders/fabalesweb.htm|access-date=2023-06-16 |website=www.mobot.org}}{{Cite journal |last1=Gao |first1=Yi |last2=Song |first2=Ai |last3=Deng |first3=Wei-Yu-Dong |last4=Chen |first4=Lin-Lin |last5=Liu |first5=Jia |last6=Li |first6=Wei-Cheng |last7=Srivastava |first7=Gaurav |last8=Spicer |first8=Robert A. |last9=Zhou |first9=Zhe-Kun |last10=Su |first10=Tao |date=2023 |title=The oldest fossil record of Bauhinia s.s. (Fabaceae) from the Tibetan Plateau sheds light on its evolutionary and biogeographic implications |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2023.2244495 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2023.2244495 |bibcode=2023JSPal..2144495G |issn=1477-2019|url-access=subscription }}}}

| image = Cercis siliquastrum MHNT.jpg

| image_caption = Cercis siliquastrum

| image2 = Bauhinia variegata (Kachnar) in Hyderabad, AP W IMG 1463.jpg

| image2_caption = Phanera variegata

| taxon = Cercidoideae

| authority = Legume Phylogeny Working Group{{cite journal | author = The Legume Phylogeny Working Group (LPWG). | year = 2017 | title = A new subfamily classification of the Leguminosae based on a taxonomically comprehensive phylogeny | journal = Taxon | volume = 66 | issue = 1 | pages = 44–77 | doi = 10.12705/661.3| doi-access = free | hdl = 10568/90658 | hdl-access = free }}

| type_genus = Cercis

| type_genus_authority = L.

| subdivision_ranks = Genera

| subdivision = See text

| synonyms = * Bauhiniaceae Martynov 1820

• Cerceae Bronn 1822
• Cercideae Bronn 1822

}}

Cercidoideae is a subfamily in the pea family, Fabaceae. Well-known members include Cercis (redbuds), including species widely cultivated as ornamental trees in the United States and Europe, Bauhinia, widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in tropical Asia, and Tylosema , a semi-woody genus of Africa. The subfamily occupies a basal position within the Fabaceae and is supported as monophyletic in many molecular phylogenies.{{cite book | vauthors = Doyle JJ, Chappill JA, Bailey CD, Kajita T | year = 2000 | chapter = Towards a comprehensive phylogeny of legumes: Evidence from rbcL sequences and non-molecular data | veditors = Herendeen PS, Bruneau A | title = Advances in Legume Systematics, Part 9 | chapter-url = http://www.kewbooks.com/asps/ShowDetails.asp?id=52 | location = Kew, UK | publisher = Royal Botanic Gardens | pages = 1–20 | isbn = 184246017X | access-date = 2014-05-04 | archive-date = 2014-01-16 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140116180637/http://www.kewbooks.com/asps/ShowDetails.asp?id=52 | url-status = dead }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Bruneau A, Forest F, Herendeen PS, Klitgaard BB, Lewis GP | year = 2001 | title = Phylogenetic Relationships in the Caesalpinioideae (Leguminosae) as Inferred from Chloroplast trnL Intron Sequences | journal = Syst Bot | volume = 26 | issue = 3 | pages = 487–514 | url = http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1043/0363-6445-26.3.487 | doi = 10.1043/0363-6445-26.3.487 | doi-broken-date = 11 July 2025 }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Davis CC, Fritsch PW, Li J, Donoghue MJ | year = 2002 | title = Phylogeny and Biogeography of Cercis (Fabaceae): Evidence from Nuclear Ribosomal ITS and Chloroplast ndhF Sequence Data | journal = Syst Bot | volume = 27 | issue = 2 | pages = 289–302 | url = http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1043/0363-6445-27.2.289 | doi = 10.1043/0363-6445-27.2.289 | doi-broken-date = 11 July 2025 }}{{cite journal | doi = 10.3732/ajb.91.11.1846 | title = A phylogeny of legumes (Leguminosae) based on analysis of the plastid matK gene resolves many well-supported subclades within the family | year = 2004 |vauthors=Wojciechowski MF, Lavin M, Sanderson MJ | s2cid = 13934619 | journal = Am J Bot | volume = 91 | pages = 1846–62 | issue = 11 | pmid = 21652332 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Bruneau A, Mercure M, Lewis GP, Herendeen PS | year = 2008 | title = Phylogenetic patterns and diversification in the caesalpinioid legumes | journal = Botany | volume = 86 | issue = 7 | pages = 697–718 | doi=10.1139/b08-058}}{{cite journal | author = LPWG [Legume Phylogeny Working Group] | year = 2013 | title = Legume phylogeny and classification in the 21st century: progress, prospects and lessons for other species-rich clades | journal = Taxon | volume = 62 | issue = 2 | pages = 217–248 | doi=10.12705/622.8| hdl = 11336/27330 | url = https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/78167/1/Taxon_2013_217-248.pdf }} At the 6th International Legume Conference, the Legume Phylogeny Working Group proposed elevating the tribe Cercidae to the level of subfamily within the Leguminosae (Fabaceae).{{cite journal | title = Towards a new classification system for legumes: Progress report from the 6th International Legume Conference | year = 2013 | author = LPWG [Legume Phylogeny Working Group] | journal = S Afr J Bot | volume = 89 | pages = 3–9 | doi = 10.1016/j.sajb.2013.07.022 | doi-access = free | hdl = 11336/29300 | hdl-access = free }} The consensus agreed to the change, which was fully implemented in 2017. It has the following clade-based definition:

The most inclusive crown clade containing Cercis canadensis L. and Bauhinia divaricata L. but not Poeppigia procera C.Presl, Duparquetia orchidacea Baill., or Bobgunnia fistuloides (Harms) J.H.Kirkbr. & Wiersema.

Many genera show unique palynology.{{cite journal | vauthors = Banks H, Forest F, Lewis GP | year = 2013 | title = Palynological contribution to the systematics and taxonomy of Bauhinia s.l. (Leguminosae: Cercideae) | journal = South African Journal of Botany | volume = 89 | pages = 219–226 | doi = 10.1016/j.sajb.2013.07.028| doi-access = free }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Banks H, Forest F, Lewis GP | year = 2014 | title = Evolution and diversity of pollen morphology in tribe Cercideae (Leguminosae) | journal = Taxon | volume = 63 | issue = 2 | pages = 299–314 | doi = 10.12705/632.37 }}