61. Northern Catalpa

Tree Tour

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Proceed right on Grant Lane, and just before you reach Stevens Way, on your left is a bold Northern Catalpa. It has enormous leaves (often over a foot long), big flowers, and pods 1-2 feet long. Every June, well before the other kinds of catalpa bloom, the bright apple-green of its foliage sets off the white flowers. This species, like other catalpas, turns dingy yellow in autumn. It's native in the Mississippi Valley region, but has become naturalized over a more extensive territory, since it was widely planted both for ornament and because its rot resistant wood was used for posts, railroad ties and such.

Pictured below: Map of geographical range of Northern Catalpa.

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