The Catalpa, though an American tree, is not indigenous in New England,
nor farther north than Philadelphia. It is allied, in its botanical
characters, to the bignonia, one of the most magnificent of the American
flowering vines, which in Virginia and the Carolinas climbs the trunks
of the loftiest trees, and, rising to a hundred feet or more, completely
encompasses them with flowers of rare beauty and foliage of the finest
green. The Catalpa requires notice here, because it is not uncommon in
our gardens and pleasure-grounds, and it is becoming more and more
general as a wayside tree. It is remarkable as a late bloomer, putting
forth its large panicles of white flowers late in July, when those of
other trees and shrubs have mostly faded, and covering the tree so
thickly as almost to conceal its dense mass of foliage. The leaves are
very large, but flowing, heart-shaped, and of a light and somewhat
yellowish green. The Catalpa is not yet very common; but it is one of
those rare productions which is never seen without being admired.