18 



acters of the two distinct kinds we have in cultivation, their respective 

 merits, as to habit and hardiness for economic planting, the methods of 

 their propagation, and treatment, also to the character of the timber and 

 its value in the various purposes to which it has been and may be ap- 

 plied. 



This paper has been epitomized from a much larger and fuller memoir 

 of the tree, which was found to be too voluminous for the present occa- 

 sion ; it will briefly treat of the catalpa bignonioides of Walter, and of its 

 western congener,* but recently recognized as a distinct variety or per- 

 haps species^ and known in Ohio as the Speciosa variety since 1853, as 

 the Early Blooming, and in Iowa as the Hardy Catalpa. The typical 

 tree, that from which the species was formed, is spoken of as the Georgia 

 Catalpa, from its earliest known habitat ; it is often referred to as the 

 common kind, and as the eastern kind, in contradistinction to our favor- 

 ite western tree, which is considered so very superior in form arid hardi- 

 ness, that it alone is recommended for extensive propagation and plant- 

 ing for economical purposes. 



At the request of Mr. E. E. Barney, and as a labor of loye, the seri- 

 ous and extensive investigation of the habitats of these plants has been 

 undertaken within a few months. By the kind, assistance of many cor- 

 respondents in numerous States, accompanied, in many instances, with 

 samples of the fruit and seeds from various parts of the country, a largo 

 collection of these has been gathered, and they have proved of great 

 value, as aids in settling the range and the native habitats of the two 

 kinds, the eastern and the western, which, though not absolutely settled, 

 it is believed will be found on the eastern and western slopes of the 

 Appalachian water-shed, toward the southern extremity of that moun- 

 tain range. 



The history and description of the species, or the Eastern Catalpa, has 

 been very fully set forth by the botanists; though for a long time after it 

 had been introduced into cultivation, and after it had been spread all 

 along the Atlantic coast, and was known in every town, as we are told, 

 from Louisiana to Massachusetts, few of the writers had ever seen the 

 tree in its native wilds. It was indeed for a long time a question whether 

 it was really indigenous any where within our borders. Meanwhile the 

 tree had been taken to Europe and was planted in many countries; and 

 as the population of the United States progressed westward, this catalpa 

 accompanied or followed, until it has reached far out into the plains 

 West of the Missouri River, crossing over and beyond the native range 

 of its western congener, and even mingled with it in some places, so that 

 both kinds may often be seen side by side in the same avenues or groups 

 of planted trees. This Eastern Catalpa has been so widely planted thai 

 it may well have been called the common kind. 



The earliest accounts we have of the Western ('(t/dl/m, were reports of 

 the observations quoted by Mr. Nuttall from General Harrison. Mho made 

 its acquaintance when residing at Yincennes, Indiana, as Governor of 

 the North-western Territory, but it does not seem to have been suspected 

 that this was different from the well-known eastern tree, for which the 

 species, bignonioides, had been erected by Walter. 



The attention of the writer was called to the showy flowers of this, the 

 early blooming kind, by his friend, .Jno. C. Teas, of Indiana, who re- 

 ferred him to the streets of Dayton, Ohio, where it had been propagated 

 and planted quite extensively by the late Dr. Job Ilaines. These were 

 visited when in bloom. In 1853 it was described and presented to the 

 public in the columns of the Western Horticultural Re-rieic, published in 

 Cincinnati, Ohio. 



As a variety name, it was called Speciosa on account of its large and 

 showy flowers. A further study, especially within the past few months, 



