Creative Woodworks & crafts 2004-04, страница 66

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by Wes Demarest

Catalpa

There are 11 species of Catalpa. The two that arc covered in this article, Northern Catalpa and Common Catalpa, are native to the United States and are used for lumber. I will not get into the ornamentals other than to say that I would expect that they can also be found at small sawmill operations, given the increased interest in urban tree utilization.

Northern Catalpa, Catalpa spec.iosa, is also known as Cigar Tree, Hardy Catalpa, and Catawba Tree. It is a fast growing tree whose original range was along the Mississippi and Ohio River drainage. Due to its fast rate of growth and its beauty, Northern Catalpa has been planted throughout the eastern U.S., and has subsequently escaped cultivation. It is similar in many rcspects to Common Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides), which was native to the southern Gulf States, and has also been planted widely throughout the same range.

The bark is thick, grayish-brown in color, and ridged with scaly plates.

The leaves are large, between eight to twelve inches long, heart-shaped, smooth with a dark green top, and hairy underneath. The leaves of the Common Catalpa have a foul odor when crushed, whereas those of the Northern Catalpa do not. The leaves are similar to Royal Paulownia, Paulownia tomentosa or Princess tree, and this similarity can lead to confusion. Paulownia has blue flowers, a short nut-shaped seed capsule, and a solid whitish pith in the twigs.

These trees prefer deep, rich, well-drained river-bottom soils. They are not tolerant of crowding with other trees, but they will sometimes be found as single specimens in mixed hardwood stands. Northern Catalpa is the larger of the two, often attaining heights of 90 feet and diameters well over four feet. The tree does not normally grow straight, or in large numbers, so it does not have much commercial value. Common Catalpa seldom reaches 60 feet in height or more than three feet in diameter, although larger species are not uncommon.

16 • Creative Woodworks 8. Crafts April 2004