catalpa

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of various, usually deciduous trees of the genus Catalpa, especially C. bignonioides or C. speciosa, native to the United States and having whorled, heart-shaped leaves, showy clusters of white flowers, and long, slender, cylindrical pods. Also called Indian bean.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A tree of the genus Catalpa.
2. n. [capitalized] [NL.] A small genus of bignoniaceous trees, with large simple leaves, terminal panicles of showy flowers, and long linear pods with winged seeds. C. bignonioides and C. speciosa are natives of the United States, and are common in cultivation as ornamental trees. The wood is light and soft, but durable, and is much used for railroad-ties, fence-posts, etc. The bark is bitter, and has been employed as a vermifuge. Two similar species from China and Japan are occasionally cultivated. The other species are West Indian; one of these, C. longissima, is known as French oak, and its bark is rich in tannin.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any tree of the genus Catalpa, the family Bignoniaceae. The two North American species, the southern catalpa, Catalpa bignonioides, and the northern catalpa, Catalpa speciosa — along with the yellow catalpa, Catalpa ovata, from China — are often planted as ornamentals because of their showy flowers and decorative bean pods, though others regard the bean pods as a nuisance.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) A genus of American and East Indian trees, of which the best known species are the Catalpa bignonioides, a large, ornamental North American tree, with spotted white flowers and long cylindrical pods, and the Catalpa speciosa, of the Mississipi valley; -- called also Indian bean.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. tree of the genus Catalpa with large leaves and white flowers followed by long slender pods