408 
DECIDUOUS TREES. 
autumn its foliage is said to change to a bright red color. These 
qualities certainly excite curiosity to know more of this species. 
The American Larch Tamarac or Hacmatac, L. americana , 
grows in swamps in nearly all the northern States, where it is a tall, 
meagre-foliaged, conical tree. When planted in gardens it looks 
very much like the Scotch larch, but requires a damper and cooler 
soil. 
THE CATALPA. Catalpa syringafolia. 
This is a native of our southern States; a tree of extremely 
rapid growth when young, and noticeable for the great size of its 
heart-shaped leaves, and their soft yellowish-green color. It forms 
a spreading, flat-headed tree, of medium size. Fig. 128 is a por¬ 
trait of a noble specimen growing in the pleasure-ground of 
Alfred Cope, Esq., on Fisher’s Lane, Germantown, Pa. It is fifty 
feet high, and seventy feet across the spread of its branches. The 
catalpa usually grows more compactly than this specimen. Its blos¬ 
soms appear in June and July, and are borne in large loose pani¬ 
cles, projecting from the golden green of the young leaves, and by 
their size, abundance, and rich color, make a superb display. 
They are as beautiful when seen singly as they are showy in the 
mass, and also have an agreeable perfume. Color white, flecked 
inside with orange and purple. 
The young wood, which is of a yellowish color, is strong, 
smooth, cane-like, and stubby; and the ramification of the branches 
is irregular, open, and spreading. Though planted largely in the 
northern States, and considered hardy, its beauty would be more 
uniform, and we should oftener see fine specimens, i£ when first 
planted, it were regarded as half-hardy, and cared for accordingly. 
In the first place, it should never be planted in rich soil, because 
the growth which results is so rank that it is liable to be killed 
back the following winter. The next season it will send up still 
ranker suckers from the stump, which, in their effort to make up 
for lost time, are likely to grow late and be nipped again by the 
succeeding winter. The young trunk of the tree, by this repeated 
