New York Metropolitan Flora

Genus: Catalpa

By Kerry Barringer

Not peer reviewed

Last Modified 02/01/2013

Back to Bignoniaceae

Nomenclature

Catalpa Scop., Intr. Hist. Nat. 170. 1777. TYPE: Catalpa bignonioides Walter.

Catalpium Raf., Princ. Fond. Somiol. 27. 1814. TYPE: Unknown.

Key to the species of Catalpa

1. Leaves glabrous below; flowers yellow...Catalpa ovata
1. Leaves pubescent below; flowers white...2

2. Leaves abruptly acuminate; panicles with many flowers; flowers ca. 3 cm across at the mouth...Catalpa bignonioides
2. Leaves long-acuminate; panicles few-flowered; flowers ca. 2 cm across at the mouth...Catalpa speciosa

List of Catalpa Species

Catalpa bignonioides Catalpa ovata Catalpa speciosa

References to Catalpa

  • Ames, O. I. 1939. Survey of hurricane damage at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Arborist's News 4(1): 5-6.
  • Anonymous 1979. Catalpa, Catalpa speciosa. Bignonia family (Bignoniaceae). Morton Arbor. Quart. 15(1): 7.
  • Burk, C. John; Lauermann, S. D. 1977. Catalpa speciosa naturalized in western Massachusetts. Rhodora 79(818): 305-7.
  • Burk, C. John; McMaster, N. D. 1988. The spread of Catalpa ovata G. Don in western Massachusetts and its biogeographic implications. Rhodora 90(864): 461-4.
  • Carpenter, S. B.; Smith, N. D. 1979. Variation in shade leaf thickness among urban trees growing in metropolitan Lexington, Kentucky. Castanea 44: 94-8.
  • Cathey, H. M.; Campbell, L. E. 1975. Security lighting and its impact on the landscape. J. Arboric. 1: 181-187.
  • Churcher, C. S. 1992. Western catalpa, Catalpa speciosa, colonising in Toronto, Canada. Canad. Field-Naturalist 106: 390-2.
  • Collingwood, G. H. 1943. Northern catalpa. Amer. Forests 49: 400-1.
  • Cox, B. J. 1974. A systematic comparison of Catalpa by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of seed proteins. Trans. Missouri Acad. Sci. 7-8: 145-53.
  • Croxton, W. C. 1939. A study of the tolerance of trees to breakage by ice accumulation. Ecology 20: 71-3. (spp. table reprinted in Arborist's News 4(3):24. 1939.)
  • Del Tredici, P. 1986. The great catalpa craze. Arnoldia (Jamaica Plain) 46: 2-10.
  • Downs, R. J.; Borthwick, H. A. 1956. Effects of photoperiod on growth of trees. Bot. Gaz. 117(4): 310-26.
  • Fosket, E. B.; Briggs, W. R. 1970. Photosensitive seed germination in Catalpa speciosa. Bot. Gaz. 131(2): 167-72.
  • Gandhi, K. N.; Thomas, R. D. 1983. Placentation in Bignoniaceae as illustrated by Catalpa, Millingtonia, Kigelia, and Eccremocarpus. Phytologia 52: 377-8.
  • Grover, F. O. 1942. The phyllotaxy of Catalpa. Rhodora 44(527): 414-6.
  • Heit, C. E. 1968. Thirty-five years' testing of tree and shrub seed. J. Forest. 66(8): 632-3.
  • Hemmings, E. T.; Core, E. L. 1976. Archeological evidence for range extension of the catawba tree (Catalpa speciosa Warder) in West Virginia. Castanea 41: 9-11.
  • Isenberg, I. H. 1956. Papermaking fibers. Econ. Bot. 10(2): 176-93.
  • Kirkbride, J. H. 2011. Neotypification of Catalpa speciosa (Bignoniaceae). Taxon 60: 1760-1763.
  • Li, J. 2008. Phylogeny of Catalpa (Bignoniaceae) inferred from sequences of chloroplast ndhF and nuclear ribosomal DNA. J. Systematics Evol. 46: 341-348.
  • Lumis, G. P.; Hofstra, G.; Hall, R. 1973. Sensitivity of roadside trees and shrubs to aerial drift of deicing salt. Hortscience 8: 475-7.
  • Manning, S. D. 2000. The genera of Bignoniaceae in the southeastern United States. Harvard Papers in Botany 5: 1-77.
  • Matlack, G. R. 1987. Diaspore size, shape, and fall behavior in wind-dispersed plant species. Amer. J. Bot. 74(8): 1150-60.
  • McClendon, J. H.; McMillen, G. G. 1982. The control of leaf morphology and the tolerance of shade by woody plants. Bot. Gaz. 143(1): 79-83.
  • Ness, J. H. 2003. Catalpa bignonioides alters extrafloral nectar production after herbivory and attracts ant bodyguards. Oecologia 134: 210-218.
  • Paclt, J. 1952. Synopsis of the genus Catalpa (Bignoniaceae) III. Candollea 13: 241-85.
  • Pammel, L. H.; King, C. M. 1918. The germination of some trees and shrubs and their juvenile forms. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. 25: 291-340.
  • Reveal, J. L.; Jarvis, C. E.; Barrie, F. R. 1990. On the typification of Bignonia catalpa L. (Bignoniaceae). Bartonia 56: 17-8.
  • Santamour, F. S. 1983. Woody-plant succession in the urban forest: filling cracks and crevices. J. Arboric. 9(10): 267-70. (Woody spp. on abandoned brick kilns)
  • Smith, E. C. 1941. Chromosome behavior in Catalpa hybrida Spaeth. J. Arnold Arbor. 22: 219-21.
  • Southwick, E. E. et.al. 1981. Nectar production composition energetics and pollinator attractiveness in spring flowers of western New York USA. Amer. J. Bot. 68: 994-1002.
  • Stephenson, A. G. 1980. Fruit set, herbivory, fruit reduction, and the fruiting strategy of Catalpa speciosa. Ecology 61(1): 57-64.
  • Stephenson, A. G. 1979. An evolutionary examination of the floral display of Catalpa speciosa (Bignoniaceae). Evolution 33(4): 1200-9.
  • Stephenson, A. G. 1981. Toxic nectar deters nectar thieves of Catalpa speciosa. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 105: 381-3.
  • Stephenson, A. G. 1978. The flowering and fruiting strategy of Catalpa speciosa (Bignoniaceae). Ph.D. Dissertation Univ. Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI120 p.
  • Stephenson, A. G. 1982. The role of the extrafloral nectaries of Catalpa speciosa in limiting herbivory and increasing fruit production. Ecology 63(3): 663-9.
  • Stephenson, A. G.; Thomas, W. W. 1978. Diurnal and nocturnal pollination of Catalpa speciosa (Bignoniaceae). Syst. Bot. 2(3): 191-8.