BIGNONIACEZ—BIGNONIA FAMILY 
CATALPA. INDIAN BEAN 
Catélpa Catdlpa. Catdlpa bignonioides. 
A tree with a short thick trunk, long and straggling branches 
which form a broad and irregular head. Loves river banks and 
moist shady places. Roots fibrous, branches brittle. Its juices are 
watery and contain a bitter principle. 
Bark.—Light brown tinged with red. Branchlets forking regu- 
larly by pairs, at first green, shaded with purple and slightly hairy, 
later gray or yellowish brown, finally reddish brown. Contains 
tannin. 
Wood.—Light brown, sapwood nearly white ; light, soft, coarse- 
grained and durable in contact with the soil. 
Winter Buds.—No terminal bud, uppermost bud is axillary. 
Minute, globular, deep in the bark. Outer scales fall when spring 
growth begins, inner scales enlarge with the growing shoot, become 
green, hairy and sometimes two inches long. 
Leaves.—Opposite, or in threes, simple, six to ten inches long, 
four to five broad. Broadly ovate, cordate at base, entire, some- 
times wavy, acute or acuminate. Feather-veined, midrib and prima- 
ry veins prominent. Clusters of dark glands, which secrete nectar 
are found in the axils of the primary veins. They come out of the 
bud involute, purplish, when full grown are bright green, smooth 
above, pale green, and downy beneath. When bruised they give a 
disagreeable odor. They turn dark and fall after the first severe 
frost. Petioles stout, terete, long. 
Flowers.—June, July. Perfect, white, borne in many-flowered 
thyrsoid panicles, eight to ten inches long.  Pedicels slender, 
downy. 
Calyx.—Globular and pointed in the bud; finally splitting into 
two, broadly ovate, entire lobes, green or light purple. 
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