248 



ARBORICULTURE. 



American Forest Trees. 



Hardy Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) — Warde^r. 



This tree is found throug-hout South- 

 ern IlHnois and Indiana, and in other 

 locaHties under cultivation, particularly 

 through Southern Arkansas, Western 

 Louisiana and Eastern Texas. 



It is known as hardy catalpa in Illi- 

 nois, Iowa, Kansas and Michigan ; as 

 western catalpa in Pennsylvania, Ohio, 

 Kansas, IlHnois and Nebraska ; as ca- 

 talpa in Rhode Island, New York, Lou- 

 isiana, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Wis- 

 consin, Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota ; 

 as the cigar tree in Missouri and Iowa, 

 from the fact that children use the pods 

 to smoke ; as hois puant in Louisiana, 

 and as Indian bean and Shawneewood 

 in Indiana. 



The bark of the tree is dark grey and 

 broken. The leaves are large and sim- 

 ple; broad and ovate, with pointed 

 apex ; in color they are light green ; the 

 under side is pubescent, especially along 

 the ribs. The flowers bloom in June or 

 July, and are white, with the inside 

 showing streaks of rich purple and yel- 

 low. They grow in erect, terminal pan- 

 icles, and are very large and fragrant. 

 The fruit is a slender pod, a foot or more 

 in length, which contains sweet-scented, 

 winged seeds, and matures in Septem- 

 ber or October. 



In shape the tree is tall, slender and 

 symmetrical, with spreading branches. 

 In native forests the specimens are tall, 

 straight, and have few branches along 

 the trunk. 



When it is considered that onlv a 



hundred years ago catalpa speciosa was 

 strictly confined to the district about the 

 mouth of the Wabash and parts of 

 States contiguous to Indiana, it is won- 

 derful tO' what a variety of soils and 

 climates it has since adapted itself under 

 cultivation — the rich alluvial soils of 

 the Mississippi Valley as well as to the 

 arid plains of the Western States. How- 

 ever, pure sandy soil is its ideal habitat. 

 Where abundant moisture and long, hot 

 seasons furnish the proper stimulus for 

 rapid growth, the tree often increases 

 two inches in diameter within a year. It 

 is frequently contended that this rapid 

 growth will not furnish as substantial 

 timber as more slow-growing trees. This 

 arg'ument, however, has been success- 

 fully refuted by prolonged and careful 

 tests. Timber lands which have been 

 cut over and are not of great value may 

 be profitably planted with catalpa. 



There is such a close resemblance be- 

 tween the different species of this genus, 

 both those of Asiatic and American na- 

 tivity, that it is only within the past few 

 years that distinctions have been care- 

 fully and correctly drawn. Virginia, the 

 original home of catalpa bignonoides, 

 has large areas well adapted toi the culti- 

 vation of speciosa, but most of the trees 

 found there, as well as in the city of 

 Washington, are the former, planted un- 

 der the impression that they were spe- 

 ciosa, and almost without exception 

 crooked, deformed, scrubby and worth- 

 less, naturally exciting the contempt of 

 forestry experts, and explaining the vio- 

 lent opposition offered the catalpa by 



