T 



HARDY CATALPA 



(Catalpa Speciosa) 



HIS tree belongs to the family Bignoniacea which has its name from 

 Abbe Bignon, librarian of Louis XV. About one hundred genera 

 belong to this family, only three of which reach the size of trees in the 

 United States. These include the catalpas, the desert willow, and the 

 black calabash tree. 



Seven species of catalpa are known, two of them occurring in the 

 United States. Others are found in China and the West Indies. The 

 name is an Indian word and was first heard among the tribes of the 

 Carolinas. It seems probable that the name catalpa as applied to a tree 

 and catawba, applied to a grape, have the same origin, and in some way 

 refer to the Catawba Indians, a small tribe said to be Sioux that lived 

 twa hundred years ago in the western part of the Carolinas and neigh- 

 boring region* where one of the catalpa species was first heard of by 

 Europeans. The tree in that region is still often called catawba. 



The two catalpas of this country are known to botanists as Catalpa 

 speciosa and Catalpa catalpa. Much confusion has resulted from attempts 

 to distinguish one from the other. Botanists are able to clear the 

 matter up among themselves, but the general public has not been so 

 successful. John P. Brown, of Connersville, Indiana, specialized on 

 catalpas during many years, and published numerous tracts, pamphlets, 

 and books for the purpose of educating the public to the point where the 

 differences between common catalpa and hardy catalpa could be 

 distinguished. His labor was likewise directed toward inducing land 

 owners to plant catalpa for commercial purposes. Due to his efforts, 

 and otherwise, catalpa was for a time the most advertised plantation tree 

 in this country. Some supposed that hardy catalpa was the wood which 

 was to save the country from a threatened timber famine. Claims 

 made for it were wide and far reaching. 



The judgment of history has been if it may be classed as a matter 

 of history that the tree fell short of expectation. This does not imply 

 an inferiority of the wood itself, or a slower rate of growth than was 

 claimed for it; but exceptional cases were interpreted as averages, and 

 for that reason the whole situation was overestimated. When all 

 conditions are perfect, hardy catalpa grows rapidly and grows large, but 

 it demands nearly perfect conditions or it will disappoint. It wants 

 ground rich enough and damp enough to grow good crops of corn, and 

 farmers are not generally willing to put that class of land to growing 

 fence posts and railroad ties. 



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