Catalpa. 



BIGNONIACEyE. 



25 



Order LXVI. BIGNONIACE^. Juss. The Trumpet-flower Tribe. 



Calyx somewhat campanulate or spathaceous ; the limb 5-lobed, 2-parted or 

 2-lipped. Corolla usually irregular, 4 - 5-lobed ; the throat large. Stamens 

 5, unequal; one of them always, and sometimes three, sterile or rudimentary: 

 when four are fertile, they are didynamous. Ovary 2-celled, with a fleshy 

 annular disk at the base ; the placenta in the axis : style single : stigma capitate 

 or bilamellate. Capsule woody or coriaceous, pod-shaped, 2-valved, many- 

 seeded. Seeds flatly compressed, usually winged, without albumen. Cotyledons 

 large, roundish, leafy. 



1. CATALPA. Juss. p. 138 ; Endl. gen. 4113. indian bean. 



[Catalpa is said to be a corruption of cataicba, the Indian name of this tree.] 



Calyx 2-parted. Corolla campanulate ; the tube ventricose ; border unequally 5-lobed. 

 Stamens 2 fertile, and 2 or 3 abortive : cells of the anther spreading. Capsule elongated, 

 pod-like, cylindrical : dissepiments contrary to the valves. Seeds membranaceous, mar- 

 gined, and finely lacerate at the extremity. — Trees. Leaves opposite or verticillate in 

 threes, simple, cordate or oblong. Flowers in terminal panicles. 



1. Catalpa syring^efolia, Sims. Catalpa. Indian Bean. 



Leaves roundish-cordate, acuminate, entire, petiolate ; flowers in panicles. — Sims in bot. 

 mag. t. 1094; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 10. C. bignonioides, Walt. fl. Car. p. 64. C. cordifolia, 

 "Duham. arb. eel. 2. fasc. 15. t. 5 ;" Ell. sk. I. p. 24 ; Nutt. gen. 1. p. 10 ; Torr. fl. 1. 

 p. 16 ; Beck, bot. p. 245 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 363. Bignonia Catalpa, Linn. sp. 2. p. 622 ; 

 Michx. fl. 2. p. 25, and f. arb. 1. p. 329: t. 64. 



A tree 20 - 30 feet high, with few large irregular branches, and bark of a light gray color. 

 Leaves 5-8 inches in diameter, smooth above, pubescent underneath, especially on the 

 veins ; the petioles 3-6 inches long. Flowers large and showy, in pyramidal panicles, 

 which are trichotomously branched. Segments of the calyx ovate, mucronate. Corolla white 

 externally, handsomely variegated with yellow and purple inside ; the lobes crenate and waved. 

 Stamens sometimes didynamous, but usually 2 perfect and 3 small and sterile ; the former 

 incurved, and as long as the tube of the corolla. Capsule 6-12 inches long and about half 

 an inch in diameter, pendulous, remaining on the tree all winter. 



About habitations ; introduced from the South, and nowhere indigenous in this State. Fl. 

 July. Fr. October. The Catalpa is more esteemed for ornament than for use ; but the wood 

 is of a fine texture, and takes a good polish. It is of a grayish white color, and very light 

 when seasoned. 



[Flora — Vol 2.] 4 



