Catalpa syrin grrfuHa, 



THE LILAC-LEAVED CATALPA-TREE. 



Bignonia catalpa, 



Catalpa $yringafoUa, 



Catalpa, 



Bois Shavanon, 



Trompetenbaum, 



Catalpa, Catawba-tree. Bean-tree, 



Synonyines. 



LiNN^cs, Species Plantarum. 

 MicHAUx, North American Sylva. 

 Don, Miller's Dictionary. 

 Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 

 Britain, France, and Italy. 

 French Louisiana. 

 Germany. 

 United States. 



Deriralions. The word Catalpa is supposed to be a corruption of Catawba, the name of an Indian tribe thai formerly occti- 

 pied a great part of Georgia and the Carolinaa. The French of Louisiana call this tree Bois Shavanon, from its being found In 

 bbundance on llie banks of the Shavanon, now called Cumberland River. The German name signifies Trumpet-tree, from the 

 form of its flowers. 



Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 64; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, vii., pi. 215 el 216; and the 

 figures t)elow. 



Specific Characters. Leaves cordate, flat, 3 in a whorl, large, and deciduous. Branches strong. Pani- 

 cles large, branchy, terminal. Corollas white, speckled with purple and yellow. Don, MillePs Diet. 



Description. 



jHE Catalpa syringsefolia, in 

 its natural habitat, fre- 

 quently exceeds fifty feet 

 in height, with a trnnk 

 from eighteen to twenty-four inches in diameter. 

 It is easily recognized by its bark, which is of a 

 silver-gray colour, and but slightly furrowed ; and 

 by its wide-spreading head, disproportioned in size 

 to the diameter of its trunk. It also differs from 

 most other trees in the fewness of its branches, and 

 the fine, pale-green of its very large leaves, which 

 are late in coming out in spring, and are among 

 the first to shrink at the approach of autumn. 

 They are heart-shaped, petiolated, often six or 

 seven inches in width, glabrous above, and downy 

 beneath, particularly on the principal ribs. The 

 flowers, which put forth in July or August, oc- 

 cur in large bunches, at the extremity of the 

 branches, and are white, marked with purple and yellow spots. In favourable 

 seasons, they are succeeded by capsules or seed-pods, which somewhat resemble 

 those of the common cabbage, but on a larger scale; being frequently two feet 

 long, and curved upwards, resembling horns. They are cylindrical and pendent, 

 of a brownish colour, when ripe, and contain thin, flat seeds, developed in a long, 

 narrow, membranous wing, terminated by a hairy tuft. Each seed with its 

 wing, is about an inch long, and one eighth of an inch broad. 



Geography and History. The Catalpa syringsefolia is indigenous to the south- 



