268 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 
HOW TO DISTINGUISH CATALPA SPECIOSA. 
Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?—Matt. XIII, 27. 
Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Gal. VI, 7. 
The colored plate of Catalpa Blossoms will greatly assist the observer _ 
to distinguish the several varieties of catalpa. Yet other comparisons of the 
habit of growth, bark, seed pods and the seed will be required to positively 
identify the true species and reject the others. The large clusters show the 
leaf and flowers of Catalpa speciosa, and for comparison one flower, No. IV, 
is the Japanese variety, C. kempferii, which has become so common in the 
United States. Another single flower, No. II, is bignonoides, while No. III is 
a hybrid. The great extent to which the inferior varieties and hybrids have been 
grown and distributed throughout the world by careless nurserymen and 
ignorant seed collectors, make it imperative that seedsmen, nurserymen and 
dealers, as well as farmers should familiarize themselves with the methods 
of detecting worthless seeds and trees. 
We have a water color drawing from the natural flowers from which 
Messrs. Williamson, Haffner & Co., Denver, Colorado, made the plates for 
reproduction. 
Kempferii, it will be observed, has a very distinct color by which it is 
easily distinguished, although this shading is lost in the hybrids. 
There is no forest tree which hybridizes more readily, by insects which 
carry pollen from flower to flower, than does the catalpa. There are innumer- 
able mixtures among seedlings, where several varieties are growing near to- 
gether, some of which closely resemble speciosa, while others differ very 
materially. 
The flowers of hybrids also show the characteristics of both parents, some 
being nearly as large as those of speciosa, while others greatly vary in size. 
Whether large, upright forest trees are obtained, or crooked dwarfs, 
will depend upon the care used in selecting trees from which to collect seed. 
The following peculiarities of the trees should be observed and differences 
noted: 
1. There is no one feature so important as to secure seed from trees of 
upright habit. True Catalpa speciosa is as distinctly upright as is the Lom- 
bardy poplar. It is only necessary to see the photographs shown in these 
pages, which were taken from natural groves, both in the forests or slashes 
and out in the open ground, to know the habit of this tree. 
One may as well expect to produce Norman or Clydesdale horses by 
breeding Shetland ponies, or heavy Durham cattle from Jersey stock, as to 
anticipate growing forests of catalpa where seed of dwarf trees are planted. 
