April 1902.] The Hardy Catalpa. 105 



" Catalpa speciosa inhabits the borders of streams and ponds and fertile, 

 often undulating bottom lands, and is distributed from the valley of the Vermil- 

 lion river, in Illinois, through southern Illinois and Indiana, western Kentucky 

 and Tennessee, southeastern Missouri and northeast Arkansas ; through cultiva- 

 tion it has become naturalized in southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and 

 eastern Texas. In southern Illinois and Indiana, where it probably grew to its 

 largest size, the western catalpa was formerly extremely abundant." ("The 

 Silva of North America," Charles Sprague Sargent, vol. VI, p. 89.) 



In addition to the native species, there is quite frequently to be 

 found in cultivation the Japanese species, Catalpa kcempferi Sieb. 

 & Zucc., in ornamental grounds, between which and the American 

 species there appear to be numerous hybrids. The long, very narrow 

 pods, borne in very thick clusters, and the low habit of growth, render 

 this tree easily distinguishable, The latest botanical discription of 

 C. kcempferi, published by Sir Joseph Hooker in the Botanical 

 Magazine^ is as follows : 



" A middle-sized tree, twenty-five to thirty feet high, with spreading, rather 

 brittle branches and copious foliage; main branches stout; shoots green, smelling 

 disagreeably when bruised; leaves about six inches long and broad, of a bright 

 pale green color, with brown glandular spots at the junction of the nerves, 

 broadly ovate, base rounded or cordate, margin sinuate or three-lobed, the lat- 

 eral lobes short, terminal, tapering to a fine point, surfaces pubescent at first, 

 then glabrous above, smooth or roughish beneath; petiole two to five inches long, 

 round; nerve axils pubescent. Panicle terminal, erect, as long as the leaves, nar- 

 row or broad ; rachis with small brown petioled leaves at the base ; flowers two 

 or three together at the ends of the branchlets of the panicle, horizontal or 

 drooping, pale yellow, sprinkled with minute red spots within; calyx very small, 

 lips rounded. Corolla campanulate, three-quarters of an inch long, mouth oblique, 

 upper lip short recurved, lower spreading ; lobes all rounded with crisped mar- 

 gins ; in many of the flowers a small recurved, tongue-shaped appendage to the 

 corolla occurs on the corolla tube near its base above. Capsule a foot long and 

 one-third of an inch in diameter, cylindric, straight, smooth, brown; seeds com- 

 pressed, velvety, produced at each end into fine, silky hairs." 



There seem to be intergrading forms between the two American 

 species of catalpa. Whether these variants are ecological in charac- 

 ter, assuming C. catalpa to be indigenous, or whether, by means of 

 occasional early-blooming individuals of the Southeastern or occa- 

 sional later-blooming individuals of the Western or hardy catalpa, hy- 

 brids have arisen between the two forms, it is on present evidence 

 impossible to say. It is certainly true that intermediate forms exist. 

 To the practical planter the essential thing is to avoid Catalpa Jccemp- 

 feri, C. catalpa, or their hybrids, or the so-called hybrids of C. ca- 

 talpa and C. speciosa, and so far as possible to confine his forest to 

 trees most near to the best type of Catalpa speciosa. Great careless- 

 ness is said to exist in the trade in the matter of distributing pure 

 seed of C. speciosa. For the benefit of prospective catalpa growers 



