(11) 



versity, Cambridge. It has been proven that there are 

 two species in our coantry, or, at least, two well 

 marked varieties of the Catalpa. They have been de- 

 nominated the Catalpa hignonioides and the Catalpa 

 speciosa. The former is a native of Georgia and North 

 Carolina, the latter of Tennessee, Kentucky, . Southern 

 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Southeastern Missouri. The 

 former is tender here, and the latter is perfectly hardy. 

 We have had both kinds. The former have nearly all 

 died out. The latter has proved to be one of our finest 

 and most reliable shade trees. It has large, heart- 

 shaped, pointed, entire leaves and showy flowers, white, 

 "tinged with violet and dotted with purple and yellow 

 in the throat," pods pendant, eight to eighteen inches 

 long. 



Besides the difference in the hardiness of these 

 trees, the Catalpa speciosa grows more upright and 

 symmetrical, the top being more compact, attains to a 

 much larger size, it blooms two weeks earlier, bears 

 larger, whiter, and more showy flowers, has larger and 

 longer pods, heavier and broader seeds, that are "de- 

 cidedly winged and fully fringed at both ends." "The 

 bark of the hignonioides in maturer trees is light gray, 

 scaley and easily detached in small, thin plates. The 

 bark of the speciosa, while light gray in young trees, 

 becomes darker with age, adheres firmly, and is fur- 

 rowed and rough." The former becomes a tree of one 

 to two feet in diameter, while the latter is a great for- 

 est tree, attaining occasionally a diameter of three and 

 four feet, and in the woods raising to a great height, 

 sometimes fifty feet without a limb. 



The wood of the Catalpa speciocia is said by the 

 best authorities to be almost indestructible. If sawed 

 into blocks of proper size, it would probably make the 

 best wood pavement in the world. 



