84 SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. BIGNONIACE. 
tertiary epoch it was common in Europe, from which it has now disappeared;' and in North America 
ranged westward to the northern Rocky Mountain region, where traces of Catalpa crassifolia,’ the 
ancestor of the existing species, have been discovered in the miocene strata on the banks of the Yellow- 
stone River. 
Seven species are distinguished ; of these, two are North American. One species, Catalpa longis- 
sima,? is a native of the Antilles ; two others, still imperfectly known, have been detected on the island 
of Cuba, and Catalpa ovata® and Catalpa Bungei® inhabit northern and central China. 
Catalpa contains a bitter principle, and is tonic and diuretic, and produces soft straight-grained and 
durable wood. 
In the United States Catalpa is not seriously injured by insects’ or fungal diseases.* 
The North 
American and Chinese species are easily raised from seeds, which germinate early in the first season ; 
and can be multiplied by cuttings taken from young shoots, which root readily. 
The generic name is that by which one of the North American species, the type of the genus, was 
known among the Cherokee Indians. 
1 Saporta, Ann. Sci. Nat. sér. 7, x. 62. — Zittel, Handb. Pale- 
ontolog. ii. 780, f. 397. 
2 Newberry, Ann. Lyc. N. Y. ix. 56 (1870). 
8 Sims, Bot. Mag. xxvii. under t. 1094 (1808). — De Candolle, 
Prodr. ix. 226. 
Bignonia longissima, Jacquin, Enum. Pl. Carib. 25 (1760) ; Hist. 
Stirp. Am. 182, t. 176, f. 78. — Swartz, Prodr. 91 ; Fl. Ind. Occ. i. 
1037. — Willdenow, Spec. ii. pt. i. 290.— Lunan, Hort. Jam. i. 
309. 
Bignonia Quercus, Lamarck, Dict. i. 417 (1783). — Tussac, FV. 
Antill. iv. 118, t. 37. — Descourtilz, Fl. Méd. Anitill. i. 87, t. 18. 
Catalpa longisiliqua, Grisebach, Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 446 (1864). 
Catalpa longissima is a handsome tree forty to fifty feet in height, 
with an oblong round-topped head, narrow ovate pointed leaves, 
small fragrant nearly white flowers, and long slender fruits, and 
The 
wood, known as French oak or Spanish oak, is moderately strong, 
and is considered valuable (Browne, Nat. Hist. Jam. 264). The 
bark, leaves, and flowers are believed to possess tonic and anti- 
in the West Indies is often planted for shade or ornament. 
periodic properties, and are sometimes used medicinally in the 
West Indies (Baillon, Hist. Pl. x. 23). 
4 Grisebach, Cat. Pl. Cub. 192. 
5 Don, Gen. Syst. iv. 230 (1838). 
Bignonia Catalpa, Thunberg, Fi. Jap. 251 (not Linneus) (1784). 
Catalpa bignonioides, var. Kempferi, De Candolle, J. c. (1845). 
Catalpa Kempferi, Siebold & Zuccarini, Abhand. Akad. Miinch. 
iv. pt. iil. 142 (1846). — Miquel, Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. iii. 
122.— Franchet & Savatier, Enum. Pl. Jap. i. 326.— Laval- 
lée, Icon. Arb. Segrez. 33, t.10.— Bot. Afag. cx. t. 6611. — Forbes 
& Hemsley, Jour. Linn. Soc. xxvi. 235. 
This tree was first made known to Europeans by the German 
botanist Engelbert Kaempfer, who visited Japan in 1690, and in 
1712 published an excellent description and figure of it in his 
Amenitates Exotice (p. 841). It is not, however, indigenous in 
Japan, where it now only exists in cultivation, being rarely seen 
outside of the inclosures of Buddhist temples, and where it was 
brought from China about the beginning of the Christian era by 
the priests of Buddha, who appear to have a particular fondness 
for the Catalpa. Catalpa ovata is probably a native of the forests 
of western China, although it has been so long cultivated in the 
northern and central provinces that, like several other Chinese 
trees, it is not possible, with the existing knowledge of the flora of 
western Asia, to determine its original home. Catalpa ovata was 
introduced into Europe by Siebold in 1849. In the northern 
United States it is hardier than either of the North American spe- 
cies, producing in great profusion during the month of July its 
small light yellow flowers, which are succeeded by slender fruits. 
A hybrid of Catalpa ovata and of one of the North American 
species appeared several years ago at Baysville, Indiana, in the 
nursery of Mr. J. C. Teas, whose name it bears (Sargent, Garden 
and Forest, ii. 303, f.). 
6 C. A. Meyer, Bull. Acad. Sci. St. Pétersbourg, ii. 49 (1837). — 
De Candolle, l. c. — Hance, Jour. Bot. xx. 37. — Franchet, Pl. David. 
i. 229 ; Mém. Soc. Sci. Nat. Cherbourg, xxiv. 236. — Forbes & Hems- 
ley, 1. c. 235. 
Catalpa syringifolia, Bunge, Mém. Sav. Etr. St. Pétersbourg, ii. 
119 (Enum. Pi. Chin. Bor.) (not Sims) (1834). 
Catalpa Bungei, which is often planted in Peking and other cities 
of central and northern China, is described as a large tree with 
fcetid lobed or entire leaves varying in size and shape, large white 
flowers spotted with purple and appearing in May, and long slen- 
der pods (Bretschneider, Jour. China Branch Roy. Asiatic Soc. n. 
ser. xvi. pt. i. 112 ; xxv. 341 [Botanicon Sinicon, i. ii.]). 
7 Few insects are reported as injuring Catalpa in North Amer- 
ica. In the southern states the foliage is sometimes entirely de- 
stroyed by the larve of Sphinx Catalpe, Boisduval, although in 
the north it is considered a rare insect (Rep. U.S. Agric. 1882, 
189). The Fall Web-worm also feeds upon the leaves; and Diplo- 
sis Catalpe, Comstock, is described as infesting the fruit on trees 
growing in the city of Washington (Rep. U. S. Agric. 1880, 266). 
8 The fungal parasites of Catalpa are principally species which 
produce spotting of the leaves. The most characteristic are Cer- 
cospora Catalpe, Winter, which makes small white spots, and 
Macrosporium Catalpe, Ellis & Martin, and Amphyllosticta Catalpe, 
Ellis & Martin, which make black spots. The mildew of Catalpa 
leaves is due in part to Phyllactinia suffulta, Saccardo, a species 
diffused on many different plants, and to the more special Micro- 
sphera elevata, Burrill, which infests both North American species. 
