4. Fruit, × 1/2.
5. Seed, × 1.
BIGNONIACEAE
Catalpa
Catalpa bignonioides Walt. [Catalpa catalpa (L.) Karst.]
HABIT.—A tree 40-30 feet high, with a short, thick trunk and a broad, irregular crown of long, crooked branches and coarse, upright branchlets.
LEAVES.—Opposite or whorled, simple, 5-8 inches long, 4-5 inches broad; heart-shaped; entire or sometimes slightly lobed; thin and firm; glabrous, light green above, downy beneath, with dark, nectariferous glands in the axils of the primary veins, turning black and falling with the first severe frost; petioles long, stout, terete.
FLOWERS.—June-July, after the leaves are full grown; perfect; borne on slender, hairy pedicels in compact, many-flowered panicles 8-10 inches long; calyx 2-lobed, green or purple; corolla white with yellow spots, campanulate, 5-lobed, 1-1/2 inches broad; stamens 2, staminodia 3; ovary 2-celled.
FRUIT.—Ripens in early autumn; slender, 2-celled, cylindrical capsule 8-20 inches long and about 1/4 inch thick; hangs on tree all winter, opening in spring before falling; seeds silvery gray, 1 inch long, with pointed, fringed wings at each end.