Photos of a Catalpa Tree in October

Fruits Hanging from Catalpa Tree in October

One thing I love about living where there are so many trees is watching their appearance change from season to season. I showed you what the catalpa tree below looked like in bloom a few months ago. Last night I was walking in the Paso Robles City Park again and found two catalpa trees. Both had the hanging fruits you can see now.

Hanging Fruits of the Catalpa Tree in Downtown City Park, Paso Robles, © B. Radisavljevic

The spring blossoms are gone. The heart-shaped leaves have not yet turned to gold. That will happen before the leaves fall. I hope to get back to photograph the tree then. Read more about the catalpa tree's characteristics on the Cal Poly website.  The pods you see hanging above are some of the very longest found on trees. Although the website states the fruits are three inches long, I can tell you many of these were at least twice that long. Perhaps you can see why the catalpa tree is nicknamed the bean tree, though the fruits are not edible.

You can see why the catalpa tree is also called a bean tree. © B. Radisavljevic

The tree above is closer to the center of the park near the Historical Museum housed in the old Carnegie Library. You can see that a few of the leaves show signs of the approaching color change.

The Whole Catalpa Tree in Autumn

Here's my photo of the entire first tree (at least that which I can see from one side.) As you can see, it's a tall tree. It often grows as high as 60 feet tall and 40 feet wide. I had trouble getting the entire width into the photo. You can see how tall the tree is compared to the man walking beside it. It also grows fast -- up to two to three feet a year. It can live up to 150 years.

Please pin this photo to your Pinterest page to share it with others. 

This is my post for Day 3 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge for October.

Is This a Catalpa Tree is Blooming in City Park?

When I Was Walking in the Park I Met a Tree I Didn't Know

I took that walk at City Park May 3, and the tree got my attention because it was in bloom. I still don't have a positive identification, but it seems to be a catalpa tree. I was using A Californian's Guide to the Trees Among Us by Matt Ritter, a botany professor at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo to try to identity it. (This is a great reference book if you are interested in identifying California trees.) I also  double checked on the internet to see other photos and they seemed to confirm the identification. Here is the overview. It's also just the right size to pin.

Below is just the upper part of the tree so you can see the leaves and flowers more clearly.

Upper View of Catalpa Tree, © B. Radisavljevic

The fruits of the catalpas tree are also present. The photo below shows them clearly along with another close look at the leaf shape.

View of Catalpa Tree Flowers and Fruits, © B. Radisavljevic

The book says the catalpa tree starts blooming next month, but a lot of my flowers that aren't supposed to be blooming yet are early, so  I'm guessing that's the case here. The catalpas are native to the Midwest, so maybe they will wait until June to bloom there. We are in a warmer climate. Mother Nature doesn't always go by the books.

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