Purple flowering tree on interstate

[WeLuvNC]

I thought the purple flowering trees along the roadways were native cherry trees.
but it could be any of these:

Cercis canadensis, Eastern Red Bud-
Prunus cerasifera, Flowering Plum-
Prunus serrulata, Japanese Flowering Cherry
Prunus subhirtella, Higan Cherry
Prunus x yedoensis- Yoshino Cherry

These are all on the nc-dot planting list. See this awesome document at: http://www.ncdot.org/doh/operations/...Guidelines.pdf

[Sherifftruman]

There are definitely some cherry trees, especially in some of the grouped DOT plantings and they are usually a lighter shade than the Redbuds. Most of the Redbuds you see are actually volunteers that are randomly along the side of the road, usually at or within 50 feet of the edge of the woods along the side of the road. You can see them around here but also all up and down I 85 to Richmond.