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Catalpa (Indian name of the first)

(the Indian name of the first species). ORD. Bignoniaceae. Trees with simple leaves, opposite, or disposed three in a whorl. Flowers terminal, panicled; corolla campanulate, with a ventricose tube, and an unequal fourlobed limb. As a single specimen upon the lawn, or occupying the edge or skirting of any moderate-sized, sheltered shrubbery, very few things are superior to a well-grown plant of C. bignonioides. It thrives in almost any soil. Propagated by seed sown in spring, by layers, or by cuttings of the ripened shoots, made in autumn. The same cultural remarks are generally applicable to all the species except longissima and microphylla, which are stove species of easy culture, and are propagated by cuttings made of the ripened shoots, placed in heat, under a glass.

C. bignonioides (Bignonia-like).* fl., corollas white, speckled with purple and yellow; panicles large, branchy, terminal. July. l. cordate, flat, three in a whorl, large, deciduous. h. 20ft. to 40ft. N. America, 1726. SYN. C. syringaefolia. (B. M. 1094). The form with bright yellow-tinted leaves is very ornamental.

C. Bungei (Bunge's). fl. greenish-yellow, with red spots, large, disposed in simple clusters or racemes. l. ovate, acuminate, entire, or lobed, glabrous. h. 8ft. to 10ft. North China.

C. Kaempferi (Kaempfer's).* fl. small, sweet-scented, disposed in branching panicles; corolla clear yellow, spotted with reddish-brown; lobes toothed July. l. ovate, cordate at the base, abruptly sharp-pointed, and often with one or more sharp-pointed lateral lobes. Japan, 1862. C. longissima (longest).* fl., corolla whitish, undulating, crenated,; upper segment marginate. l. oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, three in a whorl, undulated. h. 30ft. to 40ft. West Indies, 1777. C. microphylla (small-leaved). fl. white, large; limb undulated; peduncles terminal, usually three-flowered. l. opposite, obovate, obtuse. h. 10ft. to 20ft. St. Domingo, 1820.

C. speciosa (beautiful).* fl. white, large, disposed in rather large panicles; upper lip of the corolla longer than the lower, which is bilobed. June. United States, 1879. This comes close to C. bignonioides, but may be distinguished from that species chiefly by its softly downy, slender, acuminate and inodorous leaves, marked with similar glands in the axils of the principal veins on the under side; by its much less crowded racemes, and by its much larger flower, fruit, and seed.

C. syringaefolia (Syringa-leaved). A synonym of C. bignonioides.