DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 185 



and considerably varied in outline. After ten years of age this 

 tree always looks older than it really is, from its rough, deeply 

 cracked, gray bark, and rather crooked stem. It often appears 

 extremely well on the borders of a plantation, and mixes well 

 with almost any of the heavier, deciduous trees. As it is by 

 no means so common a tree as many of those already noticed, 

 it is generally the more valued, and may frequently be seen 

 growing along the edges of cultivated fields and pastures, ap- 

 pearing to thrive well in any good mellow soil. 



The Catalpa Tree. Catalpa. 



Nat. Ord. Bignoniacese. Liju Syst. Diandria, Monogynia. 



A native of nearly all the states south and west of Virgi- 

 nia, this tree has now become naturalized also throughout the 

 middle and eastern sections of the union, where it is gener- 

 ally planted for ornament. 



In Carolina it is called the Catawba tree, after the Cataw- 

 ba Indians, a tribe that formerly inhabited that country ; and 

 it is probable that the softer epithet now generally bestowed 

 upon it in the north, is only a corruption of that original 

 name. 



The leaves of this tree are very large, often measuring six 

 or seven inches broad ; they are heart-shaped in form, smooth, 

 and pale green on the upper side, slightly downy beneath. 

 The blossoms are extremely beautiful, hanging like those of the 

 Horse-chestnut, in massy clusters beyond the outer surface of 

 the foliage. The colour is a pure and delicate white, and the 

 inner part of the corolla is delicately sprinkled over with vi. 

 olet, or reddish and yellow spots ; indeed, the individual 

 beauty of the flowers is so great when viewed closely, that one 

 almost regrets that they should be elevated on the branches 



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