Bot. [From the language of the Indians of Carolina, where Catesby discovered C. bignonioides in 1726.]
A genus of trees (N. O. Bignoniaceæ), natives of N. America, W. Indies, Japan and China, having large simple leaves, and terminal panicles of trumpet-shaped flowers. Two species, known also as Indian Bean, and St. Domingo or French Oak, are cultivated in England. Also attrib.
1731–48. Catesby, Nat. Hist. Florida (1754), I. 49. The Catalpa Tree.
1794. Martyn, Rousseau’s Bot., xxii. 317. The Catalpa is a large tree with leaves remarkably simple and heart shaped.
1856. Bryant, Winds, i. Before you the catalpa’s blossoms flew.
1860. Gosse, Rom. Nat. Hist., 174. The large white blossoms of a catalpa tree were conspicuous just under my window.
