Catalpa syringczfolia, 
THE LILAC-LEAVED CATALPA-TREE. 
Synonymes. 
Bignonia catalpa, 
Catalpa syringafolia, 
Catalpa, 
Bois Shavanon, 
Trompetenbaum, 
Catalpa, Catawba-tree, Bean-tree, 
Linn^us, Species Plantarum. 
Michaux, North American Sylva. 
Don, Miller's Dictionary. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
Britain, France, and Italy. 
French Louisiana. 
Germany. 
United States. 
Derivations. The word Catalpa is supposed to be a corruption of Catawba, the name of an Indian tribe that formerly occu- 
pied a great part of Georgia and the Carolinas. The French of Louisiana call this tree Bois Shavanon, from its being found In 
abundance on the banks of the Shavanon, now called Cumberland River. The German name signifies Trumpet-tree, from the 
form of its flowers. 
Engravings. 
figures below. 
Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 64; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, vii., pi. 215 et 216; and the 
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. Bon, Miller's Bict. 
Description. 
plHE Catalpa syringae folia, in 
h H jG| its natural habitat, fre- 
Ll (H quently exceeds fifty feet 
in height, with a trunk 
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 syringaefolia is indigenous to the south- 
