| Catalpa Temporal range: | |
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| Catalpa speciosa flowers, leaf and bark | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Bignoniaceae |
| Tribe: | Catalpeae |
| Genus: | Catalpa Scopoli |
| Species | |
Catalpa, commonly also called catawba, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia.
Most Catalpa are deciduous trees; they typically grow to 12–18 metres (40–60 ft) tall, with branches spreading to a diameter of about 6–12 metres (20–40 ft). They are fast growers and a 10-year-old sapling may stand about 6 metres (20 ft) tall. They have characteristic large, heart-shaped leaves, which in some species are three-lobed. The appearance of the leaves sometimes causes confusion with species such as the unrelated tung tree ( Vernicia fordii ) and Paulownia tomentosa . Catalpa species bear broad panicles of showy flowers, generally in summer. The flower colour generally is white to yellow. In late summer or autumn the fruit appear; they are siliques about 20–50 centimetres (8–20 in) long, full of small flat seeds, each with two thin wings to aid in wind dispersal.
The large leaves and dense foliage of Catalpa species provide good shelter from rain and wind, making the trees an attractive habitat for many species of birds. They do not present many threats of falling limbs, but the dark-brown fruit husks that they drop in late summer may be a nuisance.
Though Catalpa wood is quite soft, it is popular for turning and for furniture when well seasoned, being attractive, stable and easy to work. [1]
Most catalpas begin flowering after roughly three years, and produce fruit after about five years,[ citation needed ]
The two North American species, Catalpa bignonioides (southern catalpa) and Catalpa speciosa (northern catalpa), have been widely planted outside their natural ranges as ornamental trees for their showy flowers and attractive shape. Northern and southern catalpas are very similar in appearance, but the northern species has slightly larger leaves, flowers, and bean pods. Flowering starts after 275 growing degree days. Catalpa ovata from China, with pale yellow flowers, is also planted outside its natural range for ornamental purposes. This allowed C. bignonioides and C. ovata to hybridize, with the resultant Catalpa × erubescens also becoming a cultivated ornamental.
Sources: (GRIN accepts 8 species) [2] (KEW accepts 8 species) [3]
The genus likely originated in North America, with the oldest fossils of the genus being seeds from the Early Oligocene (Rupelian) of Oregon, USA. Fossil species are also known from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of Europe, but they appear to have become extinct in the region by the Miocene epoch. The fossil species Catalpa hispaniolae known from Dominican amber indicates the presence of the genus in the Caribbean by the Miocene. Fossil leaves from China indicate their presence in East Asia by the mid Miocene. The living North American species C. bignonioides and C. speciosa seem to have originated from a back-migration to North America from East Asia, probably during the late Miocene. [4]
The name derives from the Muscogee name for the tree, "kutuhlpa" meaning "winged head" and is unrelated to the name of the Catawba people. [5] [6] The spellings "Catalpa" and "Catalpah" were used by Mark Catesby between 1729 and 1732, and Carl Linnaeus published the tree's name as Bignonia catalpa in 1753. [7] [8] Giovanni Antonio Scopoli established the genus Catalpa in 1777.
The bean-like seed pod is the origin of the alternative vernacular names Indian bean tree and cigar tree for Catalpa bignonioides and Catalpa speciosa , respectively.
The tree is the sole source of food for the catalpa sphinx moth ( Ceratomia catalpae ), the leaves being eaten by the caterpillars. When caterpillars are numerous, infested trees may be completely defoliated. Defoliated catalpas produce new leaves readily, but with multiple generations occurring, new foliage may be consumed by subsequent broods. Severe defoliation over several consecutive years can cause death of trees. Because the caterpillars are an excellent live bait for fishing, some dedicated anglers plant catalpa mini-orchards for their own private source of "catawba-worms", particularly in the southern states. [9]
Catalpa is also occasionally used as a tonewood in guitars.
Tabebuia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae. Tabebuia consists almost entirely of trees, but a few are often large shrubs. A few species produce timber, but the genus is mostly known for those that are cultivated as flowering trees.
The Elaeagnaceae are a plant family, the oleaster family, of the order Rosales comprising small trees and shrubs, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, south into tropical Asia and Australia. The family has about 60 species in three genera.
Bignoniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpet vines. It is not known to which of the other families in the order it is most closely related.
Chaenomeles is a genus of four species of deciduous spiny shrubs, usually 1–3 m tall, in the family Rosaceae. They are native to Southeast Asia. These plants are related to the quince and the Chinese quince, differing in the serrated leaves that lack fuzz, and in the flowers, borne in clusters, having deciduous sepals and styles that are connate at the base.
Metrosideros is a genus of approximately 60 trees, shrubs, and vines mostly found in the Pacific region in the family Myrtaceae. Most of the tree forms are small, but some are exceptionally large, the New Zealand species in particular. The name derives from the Ancient Greek metra or "heartwood" and sideron or "iron". Perhaps the best-known species are the pōhutukawa, northern and southern rātā of New Zealand, and ʻōhiʻa lehua, from the Hawaiian Islands.
Jacaranda is a genus of 49 species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas while cultivated around the world. The generic name is also used as the common name.
Ceratomia catalpae, the catalpa sphinx, is a hawk moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1875. Other common names are the Catawba worm, or Catalpa sphinx.
Oenothera speciosa is a species in the evening primrose family known by several common names, including pinkladies, pink evening primrose, showy evening primrose, Mexican primrose, and buttercups.
Chilopsis is a monotypic genus of flowering plants containing the single species Chilopsis linearis. It is known commonly as desert willow or desert-willow because of its willow-like leaves, but it is not a true willow – being instead a member of the catalpa family.
Catalpa speciosa, commonly known as the northern catalpa, hardy catalpa, western catalpa, cigar tree or catawba, is a species of Catalpa native to the midwestern United States.
Lagerstroemia speciosa is a species of Lagerstroemia native to tropical southern Asia. It is a deciduous tree with bright pink to light purple flowers.
Catalpa bignonioides is a species of Catalpa that is native to the southeastern United States in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Common names include southern catalpa, cigartree, and Indian-bean-tree. It is commonly used as a garden and street tree.
×Chitalpa is an intergeneric hybrid flowering tree in the family Bignoniaceae. There are two major forms in North America, the 'Morning Cloud' a hybrid of desert willow for desert hardiness and color, and northern catalpa, and the 'Pink Dawn' variety formed as a hybrid of desert willow and either yellow catalpa or northern catalpa. Both forms were originally thought to be hybrids of desert willow and southern catalpa. The name is nothogeneric, or a combination of the two parents' names. Leaves are lanceolate, 10 to 13 cm long and 2.5 cm (1 in) wide, almost always in whorls of three. The trumpet-shaped flowers are 2.5 cm (1 in) long and frilly. The inflorescence is indeterminate, with alternately arranged flowers.
Indigofera australis, the Australian indigo or Austral indigo, is an attractive species of leguminous shrub in the genus Indigofera. The genus name Indigofera is Neo-Latin for "bearing Indigo". Australis, from the Latin, means not “Australian” but "southern", referring to the geographical distribution of the species.
Catalpa ovata, the yellow catalpa or Chinese catalpa, is a pod-bearing tree native to China. Compared to C. speciosa, it is much smaller, typically reaching heights between 20 and 30 feet. The inflorescences form 4–10-inch-long (100–250 mm) bunches of creamy white flowers with distinctly yellow tinging; individual flowers are about 1 inch (25 mm) wide. They bloom in July and August. The leaves are very similar in shape to those of Paulownia tomentosa, having three lobes, and are darkly green. Fruits are very narrow, foot-long pods.
Catalpa bungei, commonly known as Manchurian catalpa, is a species of catalpa native to China. The specific epithet honors the botanist Alexander Bunge, who collected the specimens that Carl Anton von Meyer later described. The flowers are arranged in a corymb and are densely spotted with pink. It is cultivated in China, along with C. ovata, for its wood, which is also used for coffins, ancestral tablets, and oars. It also used as an ornamental tree.
Aloe speciosa is a species of flowering plant in the Asphodelaceae family. It is commonly called tilt-head aloe and is an arborescent aloe indigenous to the thicket vegetation of the southern Cape Provinces of South Africa.
Catalpa × erubescens, the hybrid catalpa, is a hybrid plant species of Catalpa in the family Bignoniaceae. It is a medium-sized tree, reaching at most 20 m. Its parents are southern catalpa, Catalpa bignonioides, from the United States, and yellow catalpa, C. ovata, from China. There is one accepted form, Catalpa × erubescens Carrière f. purpurea Paclt, which has purple, some say chocolate-colored, young leaves which turn green as they mature. This form is marketed under a variety of names, such as hybrid catalpa 'Purpurea', red-leaved Indian bean tree, and purple hybrid catalpa, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Catalpa fargesii, the Chinese bean tree, is a species of tree in the family Bignoniaceae, native to China. Growing to about 25 m tall, it is a deciduous tree which produces abundant pink blossom in spring, followed by narrow brown beans-like fruit in the autumn. Some sources place the species as a synonym of Catalpa bungei.
Clerodendrum bungei, commonly known as rose glory bower, glory flower or Mexican hydrangea, is a species of flowering plant in the deadnettle family, Lamiaceae. Native to China, it is commonly grown in gardens as an ornamental shrub. It has escaped from cultivation and is naturalized in the Americas.
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