Japanese name: アメリカキササゲ（亜米利加木豇豆） Scientific name:Catalpa bignonioides
[Overview]
A deciduous tree 15–20 m tall.
Leaves are simple and opposite, ovate to broadly ovate, 20–30 cm long and 15–20 cm wide, often shallowly 3-lobed; the underside is covered with soft hairs, especially numerous on the veins.
The base is heart-shaped.
They have long petioles.
Panicles at the branch tips bear many flowers.
The flowers are tubular, about 5 cm long, shallowly 5-lobed at the tip, and two-lipped.
The flower color is white, with dark purple blotches and yellow-orange streaks inside.
The fruit is a slender capsule 20–40 cm long and about 1 cm wide, hanging down.
The seeds are flat and oblong, densely covered with long hairs at both ends.
[Uses]
The fruit is used medicinally.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed and by cuttings.
It prefers a sunny, fertile place.
It dislikes places exposed to strong wind.
Cultivation is easy.
Fertilizing is not particularly necessary, but if you do, apply fertilizer in winter, in January–February.
Prune in winter, but since the flowers form at the tips of branches that grew the previous year, cutting back too far will prevent flowering.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
