The showy northern catalpa.

Walking along a river's bend your eye is drawn to a rather large tree with showy white flowers. Look closer, and you can see a fisherman attempting to shake caterpillars off its leaves.

Fishermen are particularly fond of this tree, which hosts the catalpa sphinx caterpillar, popular as fish bait since the 1870s. This is the northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), a native to the central Mississippi River Valley but found in 17 states across the U.S. and in southern Canada.

Not going fishing anytime soon? You can see these trees in the city, planted for their aesthetic beauty. Landscapers use the trees in lawns or parks because of their striking long seedpods in winter and bold springtime flowers.

A genus of 11 species of deciduous trees, the catalpa is found near riverbanks and in the woodlands of China and North America. The Italian-American botanist, physician, and naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli made the first scientific description of this genus during the 1700s.

The northern catalpa is the species with the largest flowers. The tree can live up to 70 years and enjoys sunlight or partial shade. It has a rapid growth rate, which decreases with age, but can grow to be 10 feet within two years. The mature height of the northern catalpa ranges from 40 to 70 feet, while the mature spread is between 20 and 40 feet. The trees begin to flower after seven years, but it takes until age 10 before it begins producing quality seed crops.

The northern catalpa's seedpods remain attached to the tree all winter, until the flower clusters bloom in May and June. The flower's upright stalks range from 4 to 8 inches in length. Flower buds are small, rounded, and pale brown, and the nectar entices hummingbirds, tiger swallowtail butterfly larva, and bees. The white, tubular, and frilly-edged flowers have lower petals with yellow and purple spots. Each flower sports a unique line of spots about 2 inches in diameter.

Medium-sized, bell-shaped leaves are the backdrop for these flowers. The odorless leaves have a fuzzy texture, are without lobes, and turn a brilliant yellow in autumn. A unique feature of the tree is the opposite leaf arrangement, in which three leaves are whorled toward the stem tip. Leaves range from 6 to 12 inches in length and are almost 5 inches wide. Leaf scars, which resemble suction cups, are found on the winter twigs when the leaves fall.

The leaves are said to relieve pain when applied to wounds and abrasions. Tea made from the bark has been used as a antiseptic, an antidote to snakebites, a laxative, and a sedative. Because of its sedative nature and narcotic abilities, leaves were mixed with other herbs for the treatment of whooping and spasmodic coughs in children. The bark was used as a treatment for malaria, as a substitute for quinine.

The northern catalpa is soil- and drought-tolerant and transplants easily; however, it prefers deep, moist, fertile, and well-drained soil. A short and crooked trunk supports its broad range of slender branches and thick twigs. The reddish-brown to gray bark, when mature, ranges from scaly to rigid, some having square plates.

After the flowers fall off, 15-20 percent of the flower areas develop seedpods, also called beans or fruit. The narrow, cylindrical, dark brown pods mature in autumn, dangling from the tree limbs. They open in spring, splitting and spilling flat-fringed seeds to the ground, then falling themselves. As the 8- to 18-inch-long pods grow, they turn green and darken; once they reach full maturity, they eventually turn dark purple. Those mature pods can reach 1.5 feet in length.

Flowers and leaves distinguish the northern species from two others. Often used in landscapes, the Chinese catalpa (Catalpa ovata) has also been cultivated in Wisconsin. Its pale yellow flowers are smaller than those of other catalpas. The shape of its leaves distinguish it from the northern species; Chinese catalpa leaves have two pointed "fingers" sticking out from their centers, while northern species' leaves are more rounded.

The leaves of the heat-resistant southern catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides), commonly found in Alabama, have what some consider an unpleasant odor. The tree blooms later and has slightly smaller flowers than its northern counterpart.

In South Carolina, the Catawba (meaning "river people") tribe smoked the pods for medicinal and hallucinogenic purposes. They named the northern catalpa and gave it nicknames such as "Johnny Smoker," "Lincoln Log Tree," and "Indian Cigar Tree." The pods were collected and smoked after they had dried and turned brown. The trees were considered a symbol of honor, which gave them great importance in tribal society.

Despite its beauty, the tree's great size can be a liability to other plants, so take care if you're planting one in your yard. The expansive northern catalpa can crowd out or overly shade other trees or shrubs. Its main predator is the catalpa sphinx moth, a pest that can lay its eggs on the trees' leaves. These hatch into white and pale yellow caterpillars with black heads, black markings, and a black horn. They are particularly prized as catfish bait. The catalpa's leaves will grow back after being eaten by the caterpillars, but take care. If allowed to continue for several years, the incessant defoliation can kill a tree. Control breakouts of sphinx moth caterpillars with spray.

The northern catalpa can get leaf spot or powdery mildew, but these conditions are treatable. It is generally a trouble-free tree, first brought to Ohio to produce lightweight timber for fence posts and railroad ties because of its high rot-resistance.

Due to its durability, softness, and satiny surface qualities, the northern catalpa is used for carving, millwork, framing, furniture, drawer sides, and general-purpose construction. The species is also intentionally planted to control erosion, aid brownfield revitalization or new stand growth, and as windbreaks and screening from the sun.

So next time you're fishing or taking a stroll down Main Street, keep an eye out for a northern catalpa. Besides its aesthetic beauty, it holds a great last meal for local catfish.

RELATED ARTICLE: NATIONAL CHAMP N. CATALPA

Location: Knight Township, Indiana

Circumference at 4.5 ft.: 285 in.

Height: 81 ft.

Crown spread: 84 ft.

Total points: 387

Nominator: Thomas E. Westfall

The National Register of Big Trees is sponsored by The Davey Tree Expert Company.

RELATED ARTICLE: THE TREE THAT LIVED CIVIL WAR HISTORY

For more than 200 years, the shadow of a massive, 30-foot catalpa has been cast over the grounds of a Virginia countryside estate that served as the final resting place for Confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's amputated arm, as headquarters for Union general Ulysses S. Grant, and as host to notables such as the Marquis de Lafayette.

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Perched on a knoll overlooking Wilderness Run, Ellwood stood at the center of the 642-acre estate. A group of outbuildings were situated around the house: barns, slave cabins, stables, and a kitchen. A few dozen slaves worked in the surrounding fields of corn and grain, and horses traveled the Orange Turnpike and Plank Road to markets in Fredericksburg, 15 miles to the east.

William Jones built Ellwood in the 1790s; he and his descendants would own the place for the next century. Legend holds that "Light Horse Harry" Lee, father of Robert E. Lee, wrote his memoirs in one of the upstairs bedrooms. In 1825, Revolutionary War hero Lafayette dined at Ellwood during his triumphant tour of America.

Ellwood sat on the fringe of Civil War action until a minor skirmish erupted in April 1863. As Confederates tried vainly to delay Union advances on Chancellorsville, General "Stonewall" Jackson took a bullet in the arm, which ultimately had to be amputated. Jackson's chaplain, Beverley Tucker Lacy, chose the family cemetery at Ellwood as the final resting place for the amputated limb.

For months after the Battle of Chancellorsville, Ellwood served as a Confederate field hospital. In the fall of 1863, Union troops, on the way to a standoff at Mine Run, stopped at Ellwood and ransacked the fine Lacy library (the Lacy family owned the house after Jones' daughter Betty married J. Horace Lacy in 1848.)

For three days in May 1864, during the Battle of the Wilderness, the eyes of the world focused on Ellwood and its surrounding fields and thickets. The grounds teemed with Union artillery and soldiers as they prepared for, or recovered from, intense fighting a mile to the west of the house. General Grant--recently appointed commander of all Union armies--made his headquarters a few hundred yards north of Ellwood. Generals Governor K. Warren and Ambrose E. Burnside, two of the army's four corps commanders, moved into Ellwood itself. Orderlies and staff officers swarmed the buildings, carrying orders to the front-line troops.

By the battle's end, Ellwood's floors were stained with blood, its gardens trampled, its fences gone. Graves dotted the grounds. The house's caretakers were arrested and sent to Old Capitol Prison in Washington. During the next eight years, Ellwood stood vacant, used only by a squatter and tenant overseers.

The Lacy family returned to Ellwood in 1872, having paid debts acquired during the war. In 1907, Ellwood returned to its farming roots after being sold to law professor Hugh Evander Willis. The National Park Service purchased the estate in 1977, making it part of the Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Today, Ellwood is open to the public from May 28 to October 30, on holidays and weekends with an entrance fee of $4 for adults. The Lacy cemetery is open year-round.

Ellwood's finest tree remains as a reminder of the estate's role in providing shade and comfort to soldiers, generals, intellectuals, and farmers and as a testament to the tree's ability to survive war, storms, and time.

--Susan Corbett

Meghan Amoroso is a publications intern at American Forests.