3. Catalpa speciosa Warder ex Engelm. (northern catalpa, catawba tree, cigar tree, hardy catalpa, Indian bean)

Pl. 304 a–c; Map 1284

Plants trees to 30 m tall. Bark reddish brown, divided into thick, scaly plates or furrows on older trunks. Leaf blades 15–30 cm long, entire or less commonly shallowly 3-lobed or 3-angled toward the base, noticeably tapered at the tip, the upper surface glabrous, the undersurface persistently pubescent with short, curly, unbranched to stellate hairs, especially along the veins. Calyces 9–12 mm long. Corollas 4–5 cm long, white, the middle lobe of the lower lip shallowly notched. Fruits 20–50 cm long, 1.0–1.5 cm in diameter, relatively thick-walled, the valves remaining concave after dehiscence. Seeds with the body 8–15 mm long, 4–6 mm wide, the hairs of the tufts more or less parallel. 2n=40. May–June.

Native in the Mississippi Lowlands Division, introduced widely elsewhere in the state, mostly south of the Missouri River (native in the southeastern U.S. west to Missouri and Texas; introduced farther north, west, and east). Bottomland forests, mesic upland forests, margins of streams and rivers, and bases of bluffs; also roadsides, railroads, and moist, disturbed areas.

During the 1930s and 1940s, C. speciosa was widely planted in groves for windbreaks and fence posts (Settergren and McDermott, 1962), which resulted in trees becoming naturalized outside the native range. It is still popular as an ornamental and shade tree. Some individuals develop dermatitis after handling the flowers, and even the scent of the flowers is reportedly poisonous to some individuals when inhaled (Steyermark, 1963).