CAT ALFA 311 



to be more abundantly represented in China and Japan, where four to six 

 species occur. In the open ground the Catalpas form low, wide-spreading, 

 bushy-headed, deciduous trees, a habit largely due, no doubt, to the shoots 

 never forming a terminal bud. The young wood is stout, and very pithy. 

 Leaves either opposite or in threes, large, long-stalked. Flowers produced 

 in panicles, corymbs, or racemes at the end of the shoots of the year. 

 Corolla bell-shaped at the base, with five spreading, frilled lobes ; calyx 

 two-lipped ; stamens five, only two of which as a rule are fertile. Seed- 

 vessel a very slender, cylindrical capsule i to 2 ft. long, and -J to J in. 

 diameter. Seeds numerous, flat, with a fringe of longwhite hairs at each end. 



Several new species have recently been acquired from China, but so 

 far as we know at present, the species first introduced (C. bignonioides) 

 remains the best, although Mr Wilson speaks very highly of the new 

 Chinese C. Fargesii. The former is undoubtedly one of the most 

 beautiful of all flowering trees, and as an isolated tree on lawns is seen 

 to exceptional advantage. At the same time all the species are worth 

 cultivation. 



Catalpas like generous treatment at the root; a deep, moist loam is 

 best, and an open, sunny, but not a bleak spot. Owing to the branches 

 never forming a terminal bud and the annual bi- or tri-furcation this 

 induces, it is advisable when the trees are young to train up a leader 

 high enough to produce a trunk of the desired height, say 10 ft, when 

 the tree may be left to assume the spreading habit natural to it. 

 C. bignonioides thrives well in London, and for many years there was 

 a fine specimen in the garden of Gray's Inn. Possibly the others may 

 do as well. For propagation I would prefer seeds to any other means, 

 believing that trees so raised are the longest lived. But when these are 

 unobtainable, and for distinct forms or coloured-leaved varieties, cuttings 

 may be used. These should be made of the young leafy shoots as soon 

 as they are moderately firm, and struck in mild bottom heat. 



I. LEAVES GLABROUS. 



1. Bungei. Flowers white, purple spotted. Leaves lobed. 



2. Duclouxii. Flowers pink. Leaves mostly unlobed. 



II. LEAVES STELLATELY DOWNY. 



3. Fargesii. Inflorescence usually unbranched. Down on leaves stellate. 



III. LEAVES NOT STELLATELY DOWNY OR HAIRY; MORE OR LESS LOBED. 



4. Ovata. Flowers yellowish ; corolla I in. across. Leaves mostly lobed. 



5. Bignonioides. Flowers white, spotted, ij in. across, in many-flowered panicles. 



Leaves ovate, with a short point, rarely lobed, evil-smelling. 



6. Speciosa. Flowers white, spotted, 2 in. across, in few-flowered panicles. Leaves 



inodorous, rarely lobed, ovate, with a long point. Seed-pod thicker-walled than 

 in No. 5. 



C. BIGNONIOIDES, Walter. INDIAN BEAN. 



(C. syringLefolia, Sims; Bot. Mag., t. 1094.) 



A tree 25 to 50 ft high, with a rounded, wide-spreading, much branched 

 head when grown apart from other trees. Leaves in adult trees broadly ovate, 



