(Bignonia Family.)
An order of woody plants abundant in South America; here including one genus of trees:
Genus 65. CATÁLPA.
Trees or shrubs with large, simple, opposite (or whorled in threes), heart-shaped, pointed leaves. Flowers irregular, showy, in large panicles; blooming in June. Fruit long pods with many, winged seeds, hanging on till spring. Branches coarse and stiff. Wood light and close-grained.
| * Flowers bright-spotted; wings of seeds narrowed | 1. |
| * Flowers nearly pure white; wings of seeds broad | 2. |
C. bignonioìdes.
1. Catálpa bignonioìdes, Walt. (Indian Bean. Southern Catalpa.) The large heart-shaped leaf has connected scaly glands in the axils of the large veins on the lower side; usually entire though sometimes angulated, generally opposite though sometimes in whorls of threes, very downy beneath when young, 6 to 12 in. long. Flowers much spotted with yellow and purple, and with the lower lobe entire. Pod thin, 10 in. or more in length. A medium-sized, wide-spreading tree, 20 to 40 ft. high, of rapid growth, with soft, light wood and thin bark; wild in the Southern States, and extensively cultivated as far north as Albany.
C. speciósa.