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Catalpa speciosa
Northern catalpa is a medium-sized, deciduous tree from the central and eastern United States, widely planted for its large heart-shaped leaves and showy white, purple-spotted flowers. It needs full sun and moist, well-drained soil, and tolerates a wide range of conditions.
Catalpa speciosa, commonly known as the northern catalpa, hardy catalpa, western catalpa, cigar tree or catawba, is a species of Catalpa native to the midwestern United States.
The Latin specific epithet speciosa means "showy".
It is widely planted as an ornamental tree. It is adapted to moist, high pH soil and full sun, but has been able to grow almost anywhere in North America. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).
The wood is soft, like white pine, and light, weighing only 26 pounds per cubic foot when dry. It also does not rot easily; in earlier years it was used for fence posts and less than successfully as railroad ties. More modern uses that highlight the wood's beautiful grain include furniture, interior trim and cabinetry. Catalpa has one of the lowest shrinkage/expansion rates of any U.S. hardwood. Only northern white cedar and redwood have lower shrinkage/expansion rates, and not by much. The wood's unique properties make it excellent for carving and boatbuilding. Often regarded as a weed tree, its wood is under-appreciated and underused. The tree's tendency to grow crooked does not help its reputation as a source of usable lumber.
Catalpa speciosa was originally thought to be native only to a small area of the midwestern United States near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. However, in 1976, investigation of an archeological site of an island in West Virginia's portion of the Ohio River revealed Catalpa speciosa to be present on the island around the period of 1500-1700 CE. This suggests that Catalpa speciosa may have experienced a decline in range before European settlement. Today, its range has widely expanded east of the Rocky Mountains outside of its restricted pre-settlement location, further obscuring its true native range.
Southern catalpa · Manchurian Catalpa · Hybrid Catalpa · Chinese catalpa · Catalpas
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Catalpa speciosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
