CATALPA. 287 



The specific gravity is 0.6318; weight of a cubic foot 39.37 

 pounds. 



Uses. The Black Ash is of very little value for planting 

 but might sometimes be used to advantage in wet lands; it is 

 a slow grower and short lived in our prairie soils. It is 

 used extensively in the manufacture of furniture, for interior 

 finishing, barrel hoops, baskets and chair seats. For this 

 latter purpose the wood is split in as many layers as there 

 are annual rings, which may be done very readily. There 

 are peculiar excrescences popularly known as knots or 

 "burls" that form on the Black Ash and sometimes these 

 grow as large as a bushel basket or larger. They are a sort 

 of dwarfed branches. It has been found that when these 

 1 'burls" are properly sawed they show a pretty curly grain 

 and make very desirable veneering for furniture and for 

 interior finishing and they are sought after for this purpose. 

 However, in this section the "burls" seldom if ever grow to 

 sufficient size to become of commercial importance. 



a Family. 



Genus CATALPA. 



A genus of four or five species of trees, natives of the 

 West Indies, North America, Japan and China. Leaves sim- 

 ple, opposite or in whorls of three. Flowers in terminal 

 panicles; calyx deeply 2-lipped; corolla inflated bell-shaped, 

 the 5-lobed border more or less 2-lipped and wavy. Fruit a 

 long slender hanging pod; seed, 2-winged with silky fringe. 



Catalpa speciosa. Hardy Catalpa. Western Ca- 



talpa. 



Leaves large, opposite or in threes, heart-shaped at base, 

 long-pointed, thick, firm, dark green above, falling after the 

 first severe autumn frost. Flowers appear in June in large 

 panicles, very conspicuous and pretty; corolla about two 

 inches long, nearly white, faintly spotted, the lower lobes 



