CATALPA, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Bignoniacur. It has a 2-parted calyx • crun]xonulate corolla, with a veotricose tube, and an unequal 4-lobed limb ; 5 stamens, two of which are fertile, the other three sterile; the stigma bilamellate; the capsule silique-formed, long, cylindrical, 2-valved ; the dissepi ment opposite the valves ; the seeds membranous at the margin, with pappus at the base and apex. The species are trees with simple leaves, opposite or disposed three in a whorl; the flowers terminal, panicled.
C. syringafolia has fiat cordate leaves, three in a whorl. This plant is a native of North America, and is found on the banks of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Delaware, also in the forests on the Wabash in Illinois, where it occurs in so great abundance that the wood is cut up for palings. It is a low-spreading singular-looking tree, with suc culent shoots, easily injured by the frost. The leaves are large and come out late ; the petals are white, spotted with purple and yellow.
It is a plant well adapted for large shrubberies. There is one in the gardens of Gray's Inn, which is said to have been planted by Lord Bacon. The name of the genus appears to have been derived from the plant growing on the banks of the Catawba River. It does not bear fruit in this country.
C. longissima has oblong or ovate-lanceolate leaves, acuminated; three in a whorl, undulated. It is a tree 30 or 40 feet in height. It contains much tannin in its bark. It is known in the West Indies, by the name of French Oak, and the French call it Chdne Noir.
There are several other species of all elegant plants. The C. syringafolia thrives well in common garden soil, and may be pro pagated by seeds or divisions of the root. The other species grow well in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand, or any light rich soil. Cuttings half-ripened root readily if planted in sand with a hand-glass over them.