BIGNONIA FAMILY
279. CIGAR TREE (Catalpa speciosa Warder.) a tree well known in cultivation and rarely as an escape, in woods. This tree with its large, opposite, heart-shaped LEAVES, showy white or lavender, flaring bell-shaped FLOWERS and pencil-like PODS is too conspicuous to require a detailed description. Wood: soft, light, coarse-grained; sometimes planted in groves in rich soil for use as fence posts or sometimes for railroad ties.
280. TRUMPET CREEPER (Tecoma radicans L.) a rare vine growing along fence rows and edges of woods in sandy land; common in East Texas. Leaves: pinnately compound and opposite, of 9 to 11 leaflets, toothed, pointed, ovate. Flowers: large, orange-red, flaring trumpet-shaped, nearly 3 inches long. Fruit: pods 2 to 5 inches long, tapered; seeds flat, winged, numerous.
280 trumpet creeper
281. BUTTONBUSH (Cephalanthus occidentalis L.) button willow: usually a large shrub, fairly common in swamps or near water; often cultivated. Leaves: simple, opposite or in whorls of 3 or more, smooth, dark green, with a stout yellow midrib, 2 to 7 inches long, ½ to 3½ wide. Twigs: stout, smooth, with a thick pith, pale reddish-brown and covered with a bloom in their first winter. Bark: dark, rough, with narrow scales; contains tannin; used in treatment of fevers. Flowers: creamy white, fragrant, in dense balls about 1 to 1½ inches in diameter. Fruit: a dark brownish, hard ball, remaining through the winter.