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Catalpa bignonioides

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  

Southern Catalpa is a medium-sized (twenty-five to forty feet, sometimes taller) highly ornamental tree bearing large, heart-shaped leaves and strikingly beautiful flowers after about 6 years of age. The leaves are barely expanded in summer when the flowers appear, great numbers of trumpet-shaped, creamy white flowers speckled with bright gold and purple. The flowers develop into very long, slender, pendulous seed pods, which provide considerable visual interest in fall/winter. Southern Catalpa is used as an ornamental tree (think: substitute for the invasive Powlonia!) but not as a street tree as it is somewhat messy, dropping all those spent flowers. It prefers moist soil and full sun. In the South, the leaves may be stripped by the Catawba Sphinx caterpillar, but it releafs easily and the Catawba worm serves as fish bait! The species originated in a narrow geographical band across the Gulf states, but has naturalized along the entire Eastern U.S. as well as some western states and Canada. Having the showiest flowers of any native American tree, it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

Key Info

Scientific Name: Catalpa bignonioides Walter
Common Names: Catalpa, Southern Catalpa, Cigar Tree, American Catalpa, Bean Tree, Indian Bean Tree, Catawba, Caterpillar Tree, Cigar Tree, Eastern Catalpa, Fish Bait Tree, Fisherman's Tree, Indian Cigar, Katalpa, Lady Cigar, Shawnee Wood, Smoking Bean, and Worm Tree.
Family Names:
Plant Type:
Light Requirement: , ,
Moisture Requirement: , , ,
Leaf Retention:
Bloom Times: ,
Flower Color: White, Purple, Gold
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Additional Info

Habit: Tall, grey-brown trunk with a broad, irregular crown of somewhat crooked branches.
Height: 40'-60'
Spread: 30'-50'
Soil Conditions: Catalpas prefer moist, deep, well drained soil, but adapt to dry or wet soils, of light (sandy), medium (loam) or heavy (clay) texture. The soil pH may range from acid to alkaline.
Leaves: Two to three leaves grow from each node (an opposite or whorled leaf arrangement). Leaves are 5-10" by 3-8", heart shaped and simple with smooth margins, pinnately veined. They are bright medium green on top, and paler green and slightly hairy underneath, especially on the veins. Leaves are connected to twigs with a long petiole (3-6 inches long). Leaves produce an unpleasant aromatic odor when crushed. They also have the unusual characteristic of secreting nectar from tiny glands in the axils of primary veins, which attracts ants. As they senesce in Fall, leaf blades turn a bright yellow color.
Flowers (or reproductive structures: Panicles of small, frilly, bell-shaped, perfect flowers 2" long by 1.5" across, white with bright gold and purple markings; showy. The plant is not self pollinating because of a staggering of the ripening of the pollen and the receptivity of the stigma.
Fruit: The fruit is a long, thin, bean-like pod (a capsule) 6-20" long x 0.5" wide, containing 1"-long, flat, brown seeds with fringed, papery wings. The pod ripens to brown in early fall, persists into winter, finally splitting before falling to the ground.
Natural Distribution: Rich moist soils by rivers/streams
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4 to 9
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: FACU
Pollination: Bees, butterflies, other insects
Wildlife Connections: Catalpa is the sole host for the larvae of the Catawba Sphinx Moth. As the Catalpa Sphinx larvae eat the leaves, significantly more nectar than normal seeps out of the damaged leaves. This increased nectar attracts various species of ants, ladybird beetles and predaceous insects. These predaceous insects attack and/or remove the eggs and young larvae of the Catalpa Sphinx.
Propagation: By seed.