834 



The Catalpas 



prominently veined and glandular beneath; the leaf-stalks are stout, round, about i 



dm. long. The flowers, appearing from May 

 to July, are in many-flowered panicles 2 to 2.5 

 dm. long, the calyx 8 to 12 mm. long, green or 

 purplish; the white corolla bears 2 rows of yel- 

 low spots, the tube bell-shaped, the limb 4 to 

 5 by 6 to 7 cm. across, the lower lobe nearly 

 entire, with numerous purple spots. The fruit 

 is linear, 1.5 to 4 dm. long, nearly round and 

 dark brown; its walls are thin; it hangs on 

 the branches throughout most of the winter 

 before splitting into 2 halves, exposing a flat- 

 tish partition and numerous seeds, which are 

 about 2 cm. wide, 6 mm. long, nearly white, 

 the wings tufted with whitish hairs. 



The wood is soft, weak, coarse-grained, and 

 pale brown; its specific gravity is about 0.45. 

 It is very durable in contact with water and is 



much used for fence posts; the bark is used in homeopathic medicine. The tree 



is much planted for shade and ornament. 



Fig. 758. — Catalpa. 



2. WESTERN CATALPA — Catalpa spedosa Warder 



This is a tall tree with a straight, 

 Uttle-branched trunk, of rich river bot- 

 tom lands of southern Indiana, IlHnois, 

 and Missouri, southward into Kentucky, 

 Tennessee, and Arkansas, and has be- 

 come naturalized about villages in 

 Louisiana and Texas. It has received 

 many common names as Hardy catalpa. 

 Cigar tree, Indian bean, and Shawnee- 

 wood. Its maximum height is about 40 

 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.3 m. 



The branches are mostly short, form- 

 ing a relatively narrow tree. The bark 

 is about 2.5 cm. thick, broken into thin 

 scales of a reddish brown color. The 

 twigs are stout, light green, sometimes 

 purplish, sparingly hairy or smooth, 

 becoming reddish brown with a slight 



Fig. 759. — Western Catalpa. 



bloom, and like its eastern relative, the ends of the twigs are usually winter killed. 

 The leaves are opposite or in threes, thick and firm, ovate or oblong-ovate, i to 



