96 BIGNONIACEAE. 



Family 6. BIGNONIACEAE. Trumpet-creeper Family. 



Shrubs, trees, woody vines, or rarely herbs. Leaves opposite, or 

 rarely alternate or whorled, often tendril-bearing: blades simple or pin- 

 nately compound. Flowers perfect, usually showy. Calyx of usually 

 2 more or less united sepals. Corolla 5-lobed, irregular, or 2-lipped. 

 Androecium of 5 stamens with 1 or 3 of them reduced to staminodia, or of 

 4 didynamous stamens. Anthers with mostly divaricate sacs. Gynoecium 

 of 2 united carpels. Ovary 1-celled or 2-celled by the meeting of the 

 placentae. Ovules numerous. Fruit a capsule. Seeds winged or ap- 

 pendaged. 



Capsules long and slender, dehiscent : anther-bearing stamens 2 : leaves opposite. 



1. Catalpa. 

 Capsules short and thick, indehiscent : anther-bearing stamens 4 : 

 leaves alternate, sometimes clustered on spurs. 

 Leaves clustered on spurs ; blades of a spatulate or oblanceolate 



type : fruit rounded at the apex, with fleshy placentae. 2. Crescentia. 



Leaves alternate ; blades of a broad type : fruit umbonate at the 



apex, with dry placentae. 3. Enallagma. 



1. CATALPA L. Shrubs or trees, vrith scaly bark. Leaves deciduous: 

 blades broad, membranous. Flowers paniculate. Calyx 2-lobed. Corolla 

 mainly white or yellow, the tube abruptly expanded into the throat. Capsule 

 slender and elongate. Seeds fimbriate-winged. 



1. C. Catalpa (L.) Karst. Tree becoming 20 m. tall: leaf -blades ovate, 1-3 

 dm. long: calyx 8-12 mm. long; lobes abruptly pointed: corolla 4-5 cm. long; 

 throat campanulate: capsules 1.5-4 dm. long. — Spr. & sum. 



The Catalpa grows on river-banks in middle and western Florida. The light- 

 brown heart-wood is coarse-grained, light, soft, and weak, but durable. Also known 

 as Indian-bean. (Cont.) 



2. CEESCENTIA L. Trees with scaly bark. Leaves clustered on spurs: 

 blades of a spathulate or oblanceolate type. Flowers in clusters or solitary, on 

 the spurs, pedicelled. Calyx 2-lobed, leathery. Corolla mainly yellowish-green 

 and magenta-streaked, with a fold between the tube and the campanulate 

 throat: lobes 5, unequal. Anthers mostly included. Fruit relatively large, 

 rounded at the apex, with a thick, hard pericarp: placentae fleshy. Seeds flat, 

 obcordate. 



1. C. Cujete L. Tree becoming 12 m. tall: leaf -blades 8-15 cm. long, abruptly 

 acuminate or obtuse, narrow-based: calyx 2-3 cm. long: corolla yellowish-green 

 and magenta-streaked; lobes undulate: capsules subglobose, oval, or oblong, 

 15-30 cm. long. — Spr. 



The Caladash-tree grows in hammocks on the lower Florida Keys. The 

 brown or green-brown heart-wood is rather close-grained, but light and rather soft. 

 (IF. /.) 



3. ENALLAGMA Baill. Trees with scaly bark. Leaves alternate: blades 

 of an oblong, oval, or obovate type. Flowers solitary or clustered at the ends 

 of the branchlets, long-pedicelled. Calyx 2-lobed, leathery. Corolla mainly 

 whitish, purplish or greenish-yellow, with a fold between the tube and the 

 campanulate throat: lobes 5, unequal. Anthers mostly exserted. Fruit rela- 

 tively small, umbonate at the apex, with a thin brittle pericarp: placentae dry, 

 pithy. Seeds convex, notched at both ends. 



1. E. latifolia (Mill.) Small. Tree becoming 8 m. tall: leaf -blades 7-15 em. 

 long, abruptly pointed, broad-based: calyx 2.5-4 cm. long: corolla 5-6 cm. long, 



