catalpa

noun

1. any of several trees constituting the genus Catalpa, of the bignonia family, especially C. speciosa, of the central U.S., or C. bignonioides, of the southern U.S., having opposite, sometimes whorled leaves, clusters of white flowers, and long, beanlike seed pods.

noun

1. any bignoniaceous tree of the genus Catalpa of North America and Asia, having large leaves, bell-shaped whitish flowers, and long slender pods

n.

c.1740, from an American Indian language of the Carolinas, perhaps Creek (Muskogean) /katalpa/, literally “head-wing.”