Scientific Name: Catalpa bignonioides
Common Name: southern catalpa
Family Name: Bignoniaceae
Origin: U.S. - southeast
Hardiness Zone: Zone 5: (-29 to -23 °C)
Plant Type: Tree - deciduous
Mature Size: 10 - 15m x 10 - 15m (height x width)
Habit: Irregular, Open
Form: Oval - vertical
Texture: Coarse
Landscape Uses: Specimen plant
Exposure: Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil or Media: Well-drained
Leaves: Simple, Opposite, Whorled, Soft flexible, Pubescent, Ovate, Entire
Flowers: Thyrse, White, Yellow, Violet, Jun-Jul
Fruit: Capsule, Brown, Sep-Oct, (Persistent)
Key ID Features:
Leaves whorled or opposite, ovate, 10-20cm long x 8-18 cm wide, margins entire, underside sligtly pubescent mainly near veins; florets white with yellow and purple-brown spots, large, and showy "panicles". Winter ID: opened brown capsules 20-30cm long x 6-8 mm wide (seeds narrower with ends more tapered with fewer but longer hairs than western catalpa), buds globular, flattened, 1-2mm wide; leaf scars concave, circular, 2-3 per node with many bundle scars arranged in a ring.