Catalpa bignonoides

By Emily Graves

Common Names:

Common Catalpa, Eastern Catalpa, Catawba, Indian Bean, Bean Tree, Smoking Bean, Indian Cigar

Higher Taxa:

Class: Dicotyledoneae

Order: Scrophulariales

Family: Bignoniaceae

Identification:

Thomas Walter, a British American botanist, was the authority that described the species. It was described in Flora Caroliniana in October 1788. His herbarium is now owned by the British Museum who bought it from the Linnean Society for 15 shillings. The species is defined in The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening.

Geography:

Catalpa bignonoides

Area

Status

References

North America:

Continental United States, Canada

Yes

Fernald, 1950

Churcher, 1992

Eastern North America:

United States east of Mississippi;

Ontario and eastern Canada

Yes

Fernald, 1950

Southeastern United States:

Southern New England, NY, OH, MI, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS

Yes

Fernald, 1950;

Radford, Ahles, and Bell, 1968;

Clewell, 1985

Southern Appalachian States:

FL, GA, AL, NC, SC, MS

Yes

Radford, Ahles, and Bell, 1968;

Clewell, 1985

Coastal Plain:

 

Yes

Radford, Ahles, and Bell, 1968;

Clewell, 1985

 

Piedmont:

Yes

Radford, Ahles, and Bell, 1968;

Clewell, 1985

 

Blue Ridge Mountains:

Yes

Radford, Ahles, and Bell, 1968;

Clewell, 1985

 

Ridge and Valley:

Yes

Radford, Ahles, and Bell, 1968

Cumberland Plateau

?

-

 

Central Arch:

?

-

Georgia:

Yes

Emily Graves, Personal Observation

Clark County, Georgia:

Yes

Emily Graves, Personal Observation

Sam’s Farm:

Yes

Emily Graves, Personal Observation

Old Field

Yes

Emily Graves, Personal Observation

Wetlands

?

-

Woods

Yes

Emily Graves, Personal Observation

1-Hectare Plot

?

-

 

Natural History:

The Catalpa trees can tolerate temperatures as low as -15° C. They do prefer climates with longer hot summers so that they can promote better ripening. They "grow in any deep, moisture-retentive, fertile soil in an open suuny site but with shelter from strong winds which will shred the large leaves" (Huxley, 1992). Catalpa bignonoides can tolerate soils that are heavy clay. They are deciduous trees that bloom in June. Their fruit remains on the tree throughout the winter and falls off on the spring.

How to Encounter:

Catalpa bignonoides is found throughout Eastern North America. They can be most easily detected in June because of their ornamental flowers. There are several C. bignonoides trees growing on Sam's Farm. Most of them are located on the Western side of the Old Field.

References:

Clewell, Andre F. Guide to the Vascular Plants of the Florida Panhandle. Tallahassee: Florida State University

Press, 1985.

Fernald, M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. New York: American Book Company, 1950.

Huxley, Anthony, Mark Griffiths, Margot Levy, eds. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of

Gardening. 4 vols. New York: The Stockton Press, 1992.

Radford, A. E., H. E. Ahles and C. R. Bell. Manual of the Vascular Plants of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill:

University of North Carolina Press, 1968.

Stafleu, Frans A. Taxononmic Literature. Utrecht: International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature,

1967.

http://www.bucknell.edu/~abrahmsn/bi330/families/dicoty3.html

http://www.streetside.com/plants/floridata/ref/c/catalpa/htm