Northern catalpa or catawba tree (Catalpa speciosa) is known for the long, thin fruit pods that resemble cigars, which give it its other common name, "cigar tree." Before those pods can appear, however, the tree must bloom, and bloom it does! Northern catalpa sends forth an amazing show of trumpet-shaped blossoms — white with purple stripes and red to yellow spots inside — in long panicles of 10 to 30 blooms. The pollinated blooms then begin the process of transformation into long, thin, beanlike pods, which hang in great clusters from the tree long into fall (and sometimes winter).

A rapidly growing deciduous tree, northern catalpa may grow up to 70 feet tall in optimal conditions and prefers moist, deep, rich soils but adapts well to dry or wet soils and soils that are poor or primarily clay.