I have a failing for plants with warmness - shaped leaves . I have a go at it common violets — the low - growing kind that exacting lawn fanatics detest to see in the grass . In the spring I glory in the heart - shaped folio and heart - stopping fragrance of lilac bushes . The backyard “ climbing tree ” of my childhood was an Eastern Redbud ( Cercis canadensis ) , that leafed out every year into a canopy crowded with hundreds of green substance . Now , staring out at my medium - size suburban yard , I bid I had enough outer space for a audacious catalpa ( Catalpa speciosa ) , a tree that spends the summer wear off immense hearts on every bough .
Most masses have seen a Indian bean , though they may not have know what they were count at . The tree diagram ’s most distinctive feature is probably its seed seedcase , which is dark-brown and cigar or bonce - the like in form . The “ bean ” dangle from the ramification , and can grow 16 - 20 ” long . kid roll in the hay to play with them , though adults may be less enchanted at the outlook of sweep them up .
According to the pundits at the University of Virginia , “ Indian bean ” is a Native American word meaning “ attic tree” . I always marvel why this adorable metal money did not deserve a more poetical name , like “ orchid flower tree ” or “ cloud heyday tree ” , because the blossoms are some of the most beautiful around . Held upright , on panicle similar to those of horse chestnut trees , individual catalpa blossoms are frilly and blanched , their two “ lips ” adorned with yellow stripes and purple - brown dapple .
I first noticed the catalpa tree ten or twelve years ago when I found a heyday lie on the pavement . I looked overhead and saw a tall , uncoiled - trunked tree with a passably unfold drug abuse and vast green leaves . bag the flower , I go away home and set out consult reference ledger until I was capable to identify the reference of my breakthrough .
Like thetulip Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , another relatively unsung arboreal Cuban sandwich , the Indian bean was loved by Thomas Jefferson . Unlike the tulip tree , the Indian bean tend to be abruptly - live ( one human generation , according to the source books ) , and this may be why it is n’t more popular as a residential and street tree . There are two catalpa variety common in the United States : the Hardy Catalpa ( Catalpa speciosa ) , that can be found in the northeasterly and southerly Midwest , and Southern Catalpa ( Catalpa bignonioides ) , found in the southeastward , especially in the Gulf States . The latter is poor with a more rounded canopy and slightly different flowers . The “ bean plant ” are the same , and in all other way , the coinage are very standardized .
As everyone get laid , in this years of multitasking it is not enough to be beautiful , upchuck welcome shade , and to have had ancestors who were a part of the nation ’s history . as luck would have it , the Indian bean has other talents . Its woodwind instrument has traditionally been used for fencing posts because it is durable in impinging with the reason . Nineteenth - 100 Ohio settlers apparently planted groves of the trees for just this purpose .
Perhaps the upright thing about the catalpa tree is its boldness . It iscold hardyin the North and high temperature tolerant in the South . It does well in Dominicus or partial shade and is absolutely unfussy about soil . Pollution does n’t bother catalpa , nor does urban radioactive decay or suburban urban sprawl . Those attributes alone should make it a candidate for Tree of the New Millennium .
Since my first confrontation with the catalpa , I have remark them in lots of place . There is a huge one next to the “ Big M ” grocery depot in the tiny town of Ovid , New York , near our summertime cottage . On a late head trip to Connecticut , I counted many of them in wooded areas along Interstate 84 , and , when I recollect about it , I see them most often in out - of - the - agency places . There are even a few in my own municipality .
People , presumptively those who do not know the tree diagram well , sometimes referred to catalpa as a “ trash tree” . in general , this kind of dyslogistic is used to trace something that self - semen freely and is tout ensemble a piece too common for the cognoscenti to tolerate . I happen to have intercourse that the belated Dr. J.C. Raulston , former director of the arboretum at North Carolina State University , and a great American plantsman , esteem the Indian bean . And any Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree that was good enough for Dr. Raulston is certainly good enough for me . Now all I need is the space to establish one .
Contact Elisabeth Ginsburg
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