Catalpa ovata

Catalpa ovata
Flowers
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Bignoniaceae
Genus: Catalpa
Species:
C. ovata
Binomial name
Catalpa ovata
Synonyms[2][3][4]

Catalpa kaempferi Siebold & Zucc.

Catalpa ovata, the yellow catalpa[1][5] or Chinese catalpa[1] (Chinese: 梓; pinyin: zǐ), is a pod-bearing tree native to China. Compared to C. speciosa, it is much smaller, typically reaching heights between 20 and 30 feet (6 and 9 m). The inflorescences form 4–10-inch-long (100–250 mm) bunches of creamy white flowers with distinctly yellow tinging; individual flowers are about 1 inch (25 mm) wide. They bloom in July and August.[5] The leaves are very similar in shape to those of Paulownia tomentosa, having three lobes (two are abruptly truncated on either edge, with a third, central, slightly acute, pointed lobe forming the leaf apex), and are darkly green.[5][6] Fruits are very narrow, foot-long pods.[5]

Although native to the more temperate provinces within China (Anhui, Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Monggol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang),[1] C. ovata is also cultivated in North America and Europe, and has become a parent of Catalpa × erubescens with the American species Catalpa bignonioides.[1][5] It is commonly used to make the undersides of qin.[7]

  1. ^ a b c d e Gen. hist. 4:230. 1837 "Catalpa ovata". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Gen. Hist. iv. 230. Plant Name Details for Catalpa ovata. IPNI. Retrieved December 7, 2009. Notes: =Kaempferi
  3. ^ Abh. Akad. Muench. iv. III. (1846) 142. Plant Name Details for Catalpa kaempferi. Vol. 4. IPNI. Retrieved December 7, 2009. Notes: Japon
  4. ^ "Catalpa ovata - G.Don". Plants For A Future. Archived from the original on July 6, 2010. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d e Phillips, Roger (1978). Trees in Britain, Europe and North America. Cavaye Place, London, England: Pan Books Ltd. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-330-25480-9.
  6. ^ Phillips, Roger (1978). Trees in Britain, Europe and North America. Cavaye Place, London, England: Pan Books Ltd. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-330-25480-9.
  7. ^ Yeung, Juni (2010). Standards for the Guqin February 2010 Draft. Toronto: Toronto Guqin Society.