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.