Catalpa Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Catalpa (Catalpa), also spelled Catawba, is a genus of mostly deciduous trees of the United States, West Indes, and east Asia, in the flowering plant family Bignoniaceae.

Catalpas grow to 10-25 m tall, and can be recognized by their large heart-shaped to three-lobed leaves, showy white or yellow flowers in broad panicles, and in the autumn by their 20-50 cm long fruits which resemble a slender bean pod, containing numerous small flat seeds, each seed with two thin wings to aid wind dispersal.

The two North American species, Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides), and Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) have been widely planted outside their natural ranges as ornamentals for their showy flowers. The Yellow Catalpa (Catalpa ovata) form China, with pale yellow flowers, is also planted outside its natural range for ornamental purposes.

The name derives from the Catawba Native American name catawba for these trees (the tribal totem), with the spelling Catalpa being due to a transcription error on the part of the describing botanist (Scopoli) making the first formal scientific description of the genus. The rules of botanical naming state that the spelling used in the formal scientific description has to be retained for the scientific name. The name in vernacular use has very largely (though not completely) followed Scopoli's erroneous transcription, with catawba still in use in some areas of the United States, most particularly within the trees' native range.

The bean-like seed pod is the origin of the alternative vernacular name Indian Bean Tree for C. bignonioides.

Catalpa was the name of the ship involved in the Catalpa rescue of 1876, in which six Fenian prisoners were rescued from a penal colony in Australia.

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