1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Forestry

The Catalpa Tree and Its Worms

By Steve Nix, About.com Guide

4 of 7

The Catalpa Fruit

Catalpa With Fruit

Catalpa With Fruit

Steve Nix Photo - Licensed to About.com
The Catalpa fruit is a long pod growing up to two feet long. The fruit resembles a string bean and can be a slight litter problem after seeds are dispersed. The old pod shells are persistent on limbs but will eventually drop. Still, the pod is quite interesting and adds flavor to an ornamental specimen.

The tree is useful in areas where quick growth is desired, but there are better, more durable trees available for street and parking lot plantings. Sixty-year-old trees in Williamsburg, Virginia have three to four-foot-diameter trunks and are 40 feet tall. Catalpa often escapes cultivation and invades surrounding woodlands.

Explore Forestry

About.com Special Features

A Smarter Future

Tips that will help finance your education, excel in the classroom, and advance your career. More >

How to Ace the GRE

Being well prepared is the first step; here are more essential suggestions. More >

  1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Forestry
  4. Using Forests and Trees
  5. Non-Timber Forest Products
  6. The Catalpa Fruit

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.