=BIGNONIÀCEAE.= The Trumpet Creeper Family.
=CATÁLPA.= The Catalpas.
Leaves simple, opposite or whorled, with long petioles; flowers in
terminal panicles or corymbs; fruit a long round pod which splits into
halves; seed many, flat, papery with a tuft of long hairs at each end.
A small genus of widely distributed trees. The species freely hybridize,
and have been cultivated and planted so extensively that it is difficult
to find typical specimens.
Bark of old trees thin and scaly; odor of bruised leaves
fetid; lower lobe of corolla entire. 1 Catalpa
bignonioides.
Bark of old trees fissured and ridgy; odor of bruised
leaves not fetid; lower lobe of corolla notched at
the apex. 2 Catalpa
speciosa.
=1. Catalpa bignonioìdes= Walter. Catalpa. (_Catalpa Catalpa_ (Linnæus)
Karsten). Plate 132. Medium to large sized trees, usually with a trunk
1-3 meters in length, and a wide crown; bark a grayish-brown, scaly and
flaking off in small thin plates; leaves ovate, blades usually 1.5-2 dm.
long, cordate at the base, taper-pointed at apex, margins entire, or
with 1 or 2 lateral lobes, yellow-green and smooth above, and pubescent
beneath; flowering period the last of May to the first of July, about
two weeks later than the next species; inflorescence in a rather compact
large panicle; flowers white, usually 2-3 cm. across at expanded end;
marked on the lower inner surface by two rows of yellow blotches, the
lower lobes marked with purplish spots, the lower lobe entire or nearly
so; fruit a long pod, generally 4-10 develop in each panicle, usually
1.5-4 dm. long, about 1 cm. thick, somewhat flattened, the valves
meeting at an angle which forms a ridge which is sensible to the
fingers, the valves of the pod are thin, and become flat after they
open; seed 2.5-4.5 cm. long, including the tufts of hairs at each end,
and about 4-5 mm. wide, the tuft of hairs usually converging to a point.
=Distribution.=--Supposed to be native to parts of Florida, Georgia,
Alabama and Mississippi. It has been introduced throughout the eastern
part of the United States. In Indiana it has been used in all parts as
an ornamental and shade tree. It has few qualities to recommend it, and
since the difference between this and the next species has been known
the next species is usually substituted for it.
[Illustration: Plate 132.