Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
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Catalpa
SOUTHERN CATALPA


Higher Taxonomy
Family: BignoniaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Common Name: TRUMPET-CREEPER FAMILY
Habit: Shrub, tree [woody vine]; nectaries often on stem, leaf, calyx, ovary. Leaf: generally 1--3-pinnate or -palmate (or simple), generally opposite or whorled. Flower: bisexual, showy; calyx generally 5-lobed, 2-lipped or not; corolla funnel- or bell-shaped, 5-lobed, generally 2-lipped; stamens epipetalous, generally 4, paired, a 5th vestigial (a staminode) [or 0]; ovary superior, chambers generally 2, placentas 4, axile (or chamber 1, placentas 2--4, parietal), style long, stigma 2-lobed. Fruit: generally capsule, long, cylindric to +- round, sometimes flat, 2-valved. Seed: many, flat, generally winged.
Genera In Family: 81 genera, 827 species: generally tropics, especially South America; many ornamental (Campsis, trumpet creeper; Catalpa; Jacaranda).
eFlora Treatment Author: Lúcia G. Lohmann
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Catalpa
Habit: Tree, deciduous. Leaf: simple, opposite to whorled, cordate. Inflorescence: panicle, terminal. Flower: calyx inflated, 2-lipped, purple-green; corolla fragrant, lower petal notched; stamens included, anther sacs 2; staminode included, glabrous. Fruit: linear, not flat. Seed: 6--12 mm, oblong; glabrous. Chromosomes: 2n=40.
Species In Genus: 10 species: temperate North America, eastern Asia. Etymology: (Muscogee: kutúhlpa, winged head, for corolla; corrupted to "Cataba" and "Catawba" based on erroneous attribution to a different tribe of Native Americans; both "Caltalpah" and "Catalpa" used by Catesby, who introduced the plant to England in 1726; Linnaeus published Bignonia catalpa in 1753; Scopoli established the genus Catalpa in 1777)
Jepson eFlora Author: Lúcia G. Lohmann
Unabridged Reference: Ness 2003 Oecologia 134:210--218
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Key to Catalpa

Previous taxon: Campsis radicans
Next taxon: Catalpa bignonioides

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Citation for this treatment: Lúcia G. Lohmann 2012, Catalpa, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=10502, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.