CHAPTER XXXII. 
THE CATALPA. 
Its Scattered Range, Height, and Growth.—Its Flower and Foliage 
Described.—Occurrence of its Bud and Fall of Leaf.—Its Climate 
and Thrift.—Its Self-propagating Properties.—Durability and other 
Properties of its Wood.—Its Seed Described.—Manner of Culture. 
—A New-England Specimen Described.—The Medicinal Properties 
of its Bark.—The Poisonous and Medicinal Property of its Flower. 
—Its Annual Beautifying Productiveness. 
Tuts tree, which grows to the height of seventy or 
eighty feet, and has a diameter of from two to three feet, 
is found scattered from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the 
Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
It has a very beautiful flower, and large heavy foliage 
which renders the tree liable to be broken by heavy 
winds. The leaves are late in appearing in spring, and 
fall as soon as the first frost comes. The catalpa flour- 
ishes where the winters are not too severe, the young 
trees springing up and thriving from the seed dropped by 
the old trees. The wood is very much like the butternut, 
but withstands the weather better, and takes a very high 
polish ; in some sections the catalpa is worked up into 
posts, and has been found very lasting and not very sen- 
sitive to change of weather. The seeds are contained in 
a long, slender, round pod; they are folded in a thin, 
membranous wing, and are flat and very narrow. If 
planted in the spring and covered lightly they vegetate 
very easily, and the young shoots transplant readily. 
Its bark is of a silvery-gray color, and but lightly fur- 
rowed; the leaves are heart-shaped; the flowers white, 
and marked with yellow and purple spots. In favorable 
