Catalpa

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Catalpa

Catalpa, also spelled Catawba, is a genus of mostly deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
tree

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s in the flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
family Bignoniaceae

Bignoniaceae

The Bignoniaceae, or Trumpet Creeper Family, is a family of flowering plants comprising of about 650-750 species in 116-120 genus. Members of the family are mostly trees and shrubs, and more rarely lianas and herbaceous plants in 116-120 genus....
, native to warm temperate regions of North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, the West Indies, and eastern Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
.

Catalpas typically grow to 12-18 m (40-60 ft) tall and 6-12 m (20-40 ft) wide. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 6 m (20 ft) tall. They can be recognized by their large heart-shaped to three-lobed leaves

Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
, showy white or yellow flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s in broad panicles, and in the autumn by their 20-50 cm long fruit

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
s which resemble a slender bean

Bean

Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genus of the Family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed.The whole young pods of bean plants, if picked before the pods ripen and dry, can be tender enough to eat whole, whether cooked or raw....
pod, containing numerous small flat seeds, each seed having two thin wings to aid wind dispersal.

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Encyclopedia

Catalpa, also spelled Catawba, is a genus of mostly deciduous

Deciduous

TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s in the flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
family Bignoniaceae

Bignoniaceae

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, the West Indies, and eastern Asia

Asia

Leaf

Flower

Fruit

Bean

Tung tree

Vernicia fordii is a species of Vernicia in the Euphorbiaceae family, native to southern China, Burma, and northern Vietnam. Other vernacular names include Tung Oil Tree, Tung-oil Tree, Tungoil Tree, China Wood-Oil Tree, Kalo Nut Tree, ?? being the formal name in Chinese....
s in the south U.S.

Due to their large leaf size, Catalpas provide very dark shade and are a popular habitat for many birds, providing them good shelter from rain and wind. These trees have very little limb droppage, but drop large bean pods during late summer. The wood of catalpas is quite soft

The two North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n species, Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides), and Northern Catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) have been widely planted outside their natural ranges as ornamental trees

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
for their showy flowers and attractive shape, or growing habit. Northern and Southern Catalpa are very similar in appearance, but the northern species has slightly larger leaves, flowers, and bean pods. Flowering starts after 275 growing degree day

Growing degree day

Growing degree days are a heuristic tool in phenology. GDD are used by horticulture and gardeners to predict the date that a flower will bloom or a crop reach maturity....
s. The Yellow Catalpa ?? (Catalpa ovata) from China

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, with pale yellow flowers, is also planted outside its natural range for ornamental purposes.

The name derives from the Catawba

Catawba (tribe)

The Catawba are a sovereign and recognized nation, not a tribe, of Native Americans in the United States, in the Southeast United States, along the border between North Carolina and South Carolina....
Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
name catawba for these trees (the tribal totem

Totem

A totem is any supposed entity that watches over or assists a group of people, such as a family, clan, or tribe .Totems support larger groups than the individual person....
), with the spelling Catalpa being due to a transcription error

Transcription error

A transcription error is a specific type of data entry error that is commonly made by human operators or by optical character recognition programs ....
on the part of the describing botanist (Scopoli) making the first formal scientific description of the genus. The rules of botanical naming

International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants....
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 names Indian Bean Tree and Cigar Tree for C. bignonioides and C. speciosa.

The tree is the food plant of the Catalpa Sphinx moth, the leaves being eaten by the caterpillar

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of a member of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly phytophagous in food habit, with some species being entomophagous....
s. The caterpillars are an excellent live bait for fishing, particularly in the south U.S. where some dedicated anglers plant catalpa mini-orchards for their own private source of "catawba-worms".

The largest living Catalpa tree is on the grounds of the Michigan State Capitol

Michigan State Capitol

The Michigan State Capitol is the building housing the legislative and executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in the List of U.S....
in Lansing, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Anishinaabe language term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and was planted in year of its dedication. The oldest is the 150-year-old specimen in the Minster graveyard of St Mary’s Butts

Reading Minster

Reading Minster, or the Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin as it is more properly known, is the oldest ecclesiastical foundation in the England town of Reading, Berkshire....
in the English town of Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a town in England, located at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, midway between London and Swindon off the M4 motorway....
in Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a Home Counties in the South East England of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1958, and Letters patent issued confirming...
.

Catalpa is also occasionally used as a tonewood

Tonewood

Tonewood is the term generally used to designate wood with recognized and consistent acoustic qualities when used in the making of musical instruments....
in guitars.

Catalpa

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