State Board of Forestry. 347 



ers appear in May or June about 2 weeks later than the j)rece(Iin^- 

 species, white, inconspicuously spotted with yellow and purple, 

 lower lobe notched, the upper lobe enclosing the other lobes when 

 expanding, tube of flower conical, longer than wide; fruit dark 

 brown, strongly grooved, 2-5 dm. (8-20 inches) long, and about 1.5 

 cm. (^ inch) thick, usually 1 or 2 and seldom as many as 3 pods 

 of the panicle maturing, walls of the pod thick, the valves remain- 

 ing semi-terete after separating; seeds light brown, 2-3 cm. (5^-1 

 inch) long, and about 1 cm. (5^ inch) wide, with a fringe of light 

 brown and parallel hairs at each end nearly as long as the body. 



It is now known that the several species of catalpa freely hy- 

 bridize and it is difficult to obtain pure strains of either species. It 

 appears to be almost impossible, or at least with a great risk of 

 being mistaken, to separate this species from the preceding when 

 they are very young. Mature trees are frequently difficult to dis- 

 tinguish because there are so many hybrids. Sometimes trees that 

 have the appearance of speciosa will have the flowers or seed of 

 Catalpa Catalpa. Mr. E. S. Antisdale in the Botanical Gazette, 

 Vol. 8, page 171, says, "the stigmas of Catalpa speciosa close in a 

 few seconds after being irritated." Thos. Meehan in the Botanical 

 Gazette, Vol. 8, page 191, says, ''it takes about 45 seconds for the 

 stigmas of Catalpa Catalpa to close after being irritated." 



Distribution. Found in the valley of the lower Wabash, along 

 the valley of the Ohio River through Illinois, in the southeastern 

 part of Missouri and the northeastern part of Arkansas. In Indi- 

 ana it was found along the valley of the Ohio River as far east as 

 Rockport and in the valley of the Wabash as far north as Vigo 

 County. The mass of its distribution was west of a line connect- 

 ing Terre Haute and Rockport. An old pioneer living near Austin, 

 Scott County, said it was native in the Muscatatuck bottoms. 

 This citation has not been verified. Another pioneer said it was 

 native along the Ohio River as far up as New Albany. It was 

 rather frequent in low, well drained soil near streams but has now 

 become very scarce. 



In the original forest it was a medium sized tree, usually about 

 5-7 dm. (20-28 inches) in diameter and 15-25 m. (49-81 feet) high. 

 In the forest conditions it grew tall and straight, although it can 

 scarcely be said of it that it grows as straight and as tall as other 

 trees of equal size. Information obtained from the pioneers who 

 were familiar with the original forests, say that the tree was only 

 medium sized and seldom made more than 3 or 4 post lengths be- 

 low the branches; that the lower branches did not shade off early 

 and that the trees would seldom make good saw timber on account 



