Catalpa (catawba) "worms"

Larval form of the Ceratomia catalpae moth

Catalpa (catawba) trees are essential to the life cycle of the large, brown, night-flying moth Ceratomia catalpae. The United States has two species of catalpas -- southern catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) and northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa). The Ceratomia catalpae (catalpa sphinx moth) can use either tree as a host, and catalpa moths may be found wherever catalpa trees grow.

The female moths lay piles of tiny, translucent, pearl-like eggs on the undersides of catalpa leaves or on the branches, often several hundred or even a thousand at a time. When the eggs hatch, tiny larvae emerge.

As the larvae feed on the catalpa leaves, they grow through several stages of development, becoming darker in color as they grow older. At their largest, they can measure up to three inches long. The catalpa worms always have a "horn" -- a spike at the end of their abdomen -- like the tobacco and tomato hornworms.

Catalpa worms spend their time eating catalpa leaves, and when a catalpa tree has hundreds of larvae consuming its foliage, it often develops areas of defoliation that give the tree a ragged appearance. Fortunately, the tree usually tolerates the abuse without long-lasting ill-effect.

The catalpa larvae burrow into the soil about three inches to pupate. The life cycle is complete when the large adult sphinx moths emerge, mate, and lay more eggs. Two or three lifecycles in a growing season are common.

Catalpa worms are said to be excellent fish bait for catching bluegill and catfish. One method is to cut the worm in half and turn it inside out (using a match) so the flavor is released to attract the fish. They can also be cut into pieces and threaded on a hook like earthworms. The skin of the worm is tough, so it stays on the hook and the worms are said to be lively for long periods of time. (Bait durability is much appreciated by fishermen.)

Worms can be shaken out of a catalpa tree onto a tarp spread on the ground. Fishermen sometimes preserve the worms for future fishing expeditions by packing them in cornmeal or sawdust inside glass jars or shoe boxes and freezing them. When they are thawed, the worms are still fresh and alive -- or if not, catfish like dead catawba worms, too.

The catalpa tree in the image below grows in the town of Van Buren, Missouri, about 150 yards above the Current River. It is the largest catalpa tree I've ever seen. Catalpa trees can grow 70 or 80 feet tall, and this tree is all of that or more. It would be difficult to shake it for worms.

All this writing about fish bait makes me feel like going fishing! I even know where there's a catalpa tree in our neighborhood.

Image credits: Ceratomia catalpae adult photo (found on Wikipedia) taken by Shawn Hanrahan at the Texas A&M University Insect Collection in College Station, Texas. Catalpa worm photo (found on Wikipedia) taken by contributor Taxidermistjake.

Tree Planting in the Amana Colonies

Useful trees cultivated by the Inspirationists

The Amana Colonies of east-central Iowa were one of the most successful communes in the United States. The colonies were established by a group of like-minded Pietists who immigrated from Germany in the 1840s and settled briefly in New York. In the mid-1850s, the group moved to the prairies of eastern Iowa, where they lived communally through the early 1930s. In 1905, the group held over 26,000 acres and the population had grown to over 1800.

A shared religious faith was the basis of the commune and the glue that held it together for over 70 years. The settlers of Amana called themselves "The Community of True Inspiration," believing that God speaks to His followers through inspired prophets, in modern times as in olden times. However, they also believed that the words of the Werkzeuge (prophets) should be carefully tested to see if they were true inspirations -- thence, the name of the group.

One of the Werkzeuge who had a great deal of influence over life in the colonies was Barbara Heineman (1795-1883). The hundreds of inspirations she received included one, late in her life, that dealt with the types of trees that should be grown in the Amana villages. Trees that had been planted for shade or beauty were to be removed, for only fruit-bearing trees should be planted at the homes of the Inspirationists.

There is in the Jahrbuch for 1880, a testimony by Barbara Heinemann, given three years before her death, in which the planting of ornamental trees is severely denounced by the Lord.  "Wilt thou, then," it reads, "prove that it is a beautiful custom to plant trees not bearing fruit? Know then, that the pleasures of the eye and of the flesh and the over bearing manner are a mark of worldliness, and that the spirit of the world has created in you the desire for such a beginning. Alas, away with this idolatry. See ye to it then, that all trees not bearing fruit be removed from the house, for they belong to the pleasure of the eye. You indeed have the opportunity to plant a fruit tree instead, in which the Lord and all sensible people take pleasure."


Source: Amana, the Community of True Inspiration (p. 97) by Bertha Maude Horack Shambaugh. Published in 1908 by the State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City.

The effects of this proclamation are still visible today, according to Jeff Meyer, author of The Tree Book, who notes that the tree population of the seven Amana villages still contains many hickory trees, planted in acquiescence to Heinemann's inspiration.

The Amana Inspirationists, as the Iowa State Horticultural Society reported in 1898, cultivated a superior wild red cherry through careful selection of the seed.

In the German or Amana colonies on the Iowa River in Johnson county, Iowa, which moved to their present place from the State of New York, Mr Budd tells that there is grown in quantity in each of their seven villages a variety of the bird cherry which bears young and abundantly, a fruit which they value for cooking. It has dark foliage and pendulous branches and does not sprout after it commences to bear heavily. The fruit is about as large as a good sized black currant, with a stone no larger than an ordinary bird cherry. It is a pleasant acid, rather too acid to eat raw, but so valued for pies as to be grown largely.

Source: Fruits for the Cold North (p. 35 ) by Charles Gibb. "Reprinted from the Report of the Ontario fruit growers association for 1883."

They also grew groves of catalpa trees, probably for fence posts and as a cash crop for railroad ties.

The National Park Service describes groves of pine trees, planted throughout the Amana farmland. Pine trees lined the borders of cemeteries. The schoolchildren of the colonies also planted and tended several large groves of pine trees called schulwälder (school forests). The pine groves were much enjoyed by the Inspirationists as places to walk and to picnic.

The pine groves of the Amana Colonies were commended in a 1908 U.S. Forest Service bulletin :"The Amana colony in Iowa County has several large groves of white pine and other pines which have proved very successful. Soil of this region is usually a rich sandy loam."

One large schulwäld of Austrian pines was harvested during World War II, and its wood given to the war effort. At least one schulwäld is still standing on private property in the area, according to the National Park Service.

Wikipedia image of a historic home in or near

the village of Middle Amana

Northern and Southern Catalpas

One way to identify the native catalpas

The catalpa trees have bloomed recently in Christian County, Kentucky. I don't know if the catalpa in these photos is a southern catalpa (Catalpa bigenoides) or a northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa). The northern catalpa is sometimes called a hardy catalpa. It is found in USDA Zones 4-8, whereas the southern catalpa prefers Zones 5-9.

I might have made a guess about the identity of this catalpa if I had looked closely at its blossoms. The northern catalpa's blossom is supposed to be more thickly spotted on the inside, but how would you know without a southern catalpa blossom to compare it with?

According to tree expert William H. Lamb, writing for the American Society of American Foresters in 1912, a reliable clue to identification can be found within the catalpa bean. The long, thin pod of the catalpa (up to 18 or 20 inches in length) contains a septum or partition along which the beans are arranged. If the septum is flat and thin, the tree is a southern catalpa. If the septum is round, the tree is a northern catalpa. The advantage of this identifier is that one doesn't need to compare specimens from both catalpas.

Being able to distinguish between the two catalpas was important to foresters in 1912. Though catalpa wood is soft, it was a favored wood for railroad ties and fence posts because it is durable in contact with soil.

Northern catalpa wood was harder than southern catalpa wood, and thus superior for railroad ties, particularly as trains grew heavier. Farmers wanted to grow and harvest northern catalpas, selling the largest part of the trunk for railroad ties and smaller parts for fence posts. Some railroads even had plantations of northern catalpa.

In addition, the hardy catalpa was considered a good candidate for the treeless American prairies. Though it prefers a moist situation, the hardy catalpa can endure dry conditions and cold winters. I can vouch for this myself. Two big catalpa trees grow in the sandy, often arid. front yard of my brother's ranch in Kansas.

I'm rather fond of catalpas, but that may be because I've never had one. In favorable locations, they can be so prolific that they're considered invasive. They're also a rather messy tree, when those big leaves and pods drop.

Furthermore, the catalpas aren't even listed in the bible of wildlife value -- Martin, Zim, and Nelson's American Wildlife and Plants. When this book was published in 1951, apparently no report had been made of an animal eating any part of a catalpa tree, anywhere in the U.S., ever.

Five Tall, Narrow Deciduous Trees

Narrowest of the Tall, Native, Deciduous Trees

These trees can reach 75 to 100 feet in height at maturity, in optimal conditions. They are among the tallest native trees.

At maturity, their spread is generally about 1/2 their height -- that is, roughly 35 to 50 feet at most. They won't be as narrow as the narrowest of the tall, native conifers, but they're narrow for deciduous trees.

The names are linked to more information about the species at the USDA/NSRC Plants Database, the North Carolina State University's Urban Horticulture website, and the University of Connecticut Plants Database.

Pignut Hickory -- Carya glabra

Shagbark hickory -- Carya ovata

Mockernut hickory -- Carya alba, or Carya tomentosa (depending on which naming system you are using, I guess.)

Northern catalpa -- Catalpa speciosa

Tuliptree, often called tulip poplar -- Liriodendron tulipifera

The hickories will be slow growing trees. If you can offer a site that doesn't have compacted soil or salt splashing in from a roadway in winter, the mockernut (mocknut, white) hickory is a nice tree that should do well -- long lived, resistant to some diseases that bother other hickories, not susceptible to weather damage, has some wildlife value.

If you're looking for faster growing trees, the catalpa or tulip poplar will do that. The catalpa is the shorter-lived of the two. It may not last 75 years; rarely would it last a century. The tulip tree will live up to twice that long --150 years or rarely two centuries. Both will probably suffer some wind and ice damage, due to their weak wood. The tulip poplar will need a moister site than the catalpa.

The next narrowest tall tree after these would probably be the Cucumbertree Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata). It tends to be a bit wider, with a spread 1/2 to 3/4 of its height.

These are listed particularly for the consideration of Xris at Flatbush Gardener, who gardens in Brooklyn. He said he needed some tall narrow deciduous trees, not just tall narrow conifers.

An old, giant tuliptree grows in Queens. (Both Queens and Brooklyn are part of New York City.) The Queens Poplar is described in the article, A Rendezvous with Two Giant Trees.

Related posts:
Five Tall Narrow Trees
Narrow trees for small spaces
Ten Tall-Growing Trees

Image:
Lirodendron tulipifera (tulip poplar). From Wikimedia Commons by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT. This tree grows in the private park of the Louvignies castle in Belgium. See another image here.