408 DECIDUOUS TREES. 



autumn its foliage is said to change to a bright red color. These 

 qualities certainly excite curiosity to know more of this species. 



The American Larch Tamarac or Hacmatac, L. americana^ 

 grows in swamps in nearly all the northern States, where it is a tall, 

 meagre-foliaged, conical tree. When planted in gafdens it looks 

 very much like the Scotch larch, but requires a damper and cooler 

 soil. 



THE CATALPA. Catalpa syringafolia. 



This is a native of our southern States ; a tree of extremely 

 rapid growth when young, and noticeable for the great size of its 

 heart-shaped leaves, and their soft yellowish-green color. It forms 

 a spreading, flat-headed tree, of medium size. Fig.' 128 is a por- 

 trait of a noble specimen growing in the pleasure-ground of 

 Alfred Cope, Esq., on Fisher's Lane, Germantown, Pa. It is fifty 

 feet high, and seventy feet across the spread of its branches. The 

 catalpa usually grows more compactly than this specimen. Its blos- 

 soms appear in June and July, and are borne in large loose pani- 

 cles, projecting from the golden green of the young leaves, and by 

 their size, abundance, and rich color, make a superb display. 

 They are as beautiful when seen singly as they are showy in the 

 mass, and also have an agreeable perfume. Color white, flecked 

 inside with orange and purple. 



The young wood, which is of a yellowish color, is strong, 

 smooth, cane-like, and stubby ; and the ramification of the branches 

 is irregular, open, and spreading. Though planted largely in the 

 northern States, and considered hardy, its beauty would be more 

 uniform, and we should oftener see fine specimens, if, when first 

 planted, it were regarded as half-hardy, and cared for accordingly. 

 In the first place, it should never be planted in rich soil, because 

 the growth which results is so rank that it is liable to be .killed 

 back the following winter. The next season it will send up still 

 ranker suckers from the stump, which, in their effort to make up 

 for lost time, are likely to grow late and be nipped again by the 

 succeeding winter. The young trunk of the tree, by this repeated 



