﻿l-'IKLI) AN 1 1 FOKfeST. 27 



Notes on the Catalpa. 

 Catatpa bi^nonioides. 



It is only within the last decade that the natural Occurrence of this 

 tree anywhere but in the extreme Southern Slates has been established 

 beyond dispute. Many years ago, Nultall wrote: "Rarelv to be met 

 with — appears to have been introduced by the Aborigines. In most 

 of the habitats of this tree, given by Miclr.iux, which I have visited, il 

 existing at all, it had evidently been introduced. / am informed, 

 ho'Weveti by Governor Harrison of the indubitable existence of this tree, 

 in very considerable quantities, in the forests of the Wabash, Illinois 

 'Territory, where its wood is even split for rails. Still, even here, it is 

 extremely local, and 1 have never once met with it, either on the banks 

 if the Ohio, the Mississippi or Missouri rivers, which / hare ascended 

 and descended for thousands of miles." * Commenting on the above, 

 Mr. Fred. Brendel, in his account of the trees and shrubs of Illinois, f 

 asks : " Can anybody living in southeast Illinois render account con- 

 cerning the above considerable quantity of Catalpas split for rails?" 

 Even the latest edition of Gray's Botany ( 1S71, ) questions its Southern 

 Illinois habitat. Never having suspected until noticing the remarks 

 above quoted, that the species had possibly become naturalized after 

 artificial introduction, have carefully investigated the case, and find 

 most convincing testimony that it is as truly indigenous to the forest of 

 the lower Wabash and White River bottoms as any tree Avith whichit 

 is associated. The principal evidence is as follows: 



(1.) It is not more local in its distribution than many other native 

 trees, the Coffee Nut and Buckeye being both scarcer and more local. 

 As is the case with nearly every species, however, it is abundant in 

 some places, scattered in other districts and wanting elsewhere. 



(2. ) Its abundance, perfection of it^, flowering and fruiting, and the 

 size to which it attains, attest that it here reaches full perfection, which 

 would not be the case were the district so far removed from its natural 

 habitat. 



* Italics our own. 



f The Trees and Shrubs of Illinois. By Fred. Brendel. Transactions of the Illi- 

 nois State Agricultural Society, 1858-9, pp. 599, 600. 



