460 
foot and half deep in the ground; and their tops must be cut off to about nine inches above the 
surface, which will occasion them to shoot out many branches. 
In other countries the Alder is always raised from seeds, but I do not know that this method 
is practised in England.^ 
These trees will also thrive exceedingly on the sides of brooks; and may be cut for poles every 
fifth or sixth year. They may also be planted for hedges, in moist ground, where they thrive very 
fast, and may be trained into very thick close hedges, to the height of twenty feet and upwards. 
They may also be used in securing the banks of rivers, by planting truncheons very close, or cross¬ 
wise. The leaves being large, and of a deep green, have a good effect, and the trees make a much 
better figure than most other aquatic trees; so that where the beauty of such plantations is con¬ 
sidered, these should be preferred to other trees usually planted in swampy grounds. 
Species 5. The Hoary Alder, grows naturally in dry sandy soils, and may perhaps be culti¬ 
vated with the Birch, where land is of little value, as an underwood, and may be propagated either 
by layers or cuttings; as well as by seeds, where they can be obtained. 
Genus 1 . Bignonia. Bignonia . Class XIV. Didynamia. 
Order II. Angiospermia. 
Species 1 . The Catalpa Tree . (Bignonia Catalpa.) 
The Bignonias are trees or shrubs inhabitants of the hot climates of the East and West Indies, 
and eminently beautiful. 
The Catalpa is a deciduous tree, rising with an upright stem, covered with a smooth brown bark, 
to the height of thirty or forty feet: it sends out many strong lateral branches, having very large, 
heart-shaped (or ovate) leaves on them, placed opposite at every joint. The flowers are produced 
in large branching panicles towards the end of the branches; they are of a dirty white colour, with 
a few purple spots, and faint stripes of yellow on their inside: the tube of the corolla is much shorter, 
and the upper part more spreading than in the rooting Bignonia; the segments also are deeper cut, 
and waved on their edges. Two stamens have anthers, and two are without, j- The flowers are 
succeeded by long taper pods; but these have not as yet been produced in England. Mr. Mark 
Catesby found it growing naturally on the back of South Carolina, at a great distance from the 
English settlements, and brought it into England about the year 1726. It is now not uncommon 
in our nurseries and plantations. This tree has a good effect, when it stands in the middle of large 
openings, where it can freely send forth its side branches, and show itself to advantage. The leaves 
however come out extremely late in our climate; and it requires a sheltered situation, for where it 
is much exposed to strong winds, the large leaves are often torn and rendered unsightly, and many 
times their branches are split and broken by the wind. It flowers in August, and is known in the 
nurseries by its Indian name Catalpa. 
The branches dye wool a kind of cinnamon colour. 
CULTURE. 
I he seeds of the Common Catalpa tree are annually brought over from South Carolina. The 
seedling plants should be placed abroad the beginning of June in a sheltered situation till autumn, 
* Hunter's Evelyn. 
f Linn. 
