Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Catalpa bignoniodes

Family

Bignoniaceae

Flowering season

July to August

English distribution

It is cultivated throughout the country.

Naturalised escapes are occasionally found in any part of

the country

See the BSBI distribution map for Indian-bean-tree

Habitat

It is a neophyte, which was introduced from the US in

the 1790s.

It is widely grown as an ornamental tree in parks,

estates and gardens.

Naturalised escapes are found only very occasionally.

Description

Indian-bean-tree is a broad-leaved, deciduous tree

growing up to 15m.

The flowers grow in panicles of up to 40 flowers.

Each flower is up to 4cm  and has 5 frilly white petals

with yellow, orange and  purple markings.

The fruits are bean-like pods up to 40cm long and

1cm wide.

The seeds are winged and released when the pods

split at the end of winter.

The leaves are oval with a heart shaped base and

a longish stalk. They are large, up to 25cm and lime

green. They first appear in June.

Flowering tends to occur only in good summers in

the UK.

It is not clear whether the escapes originate from seeds.