Chitalpa

Chitalpa tashkentesis
'Morning Cloud' chitalpa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Bignoniaceae
Genus:	×Chitalpa
Species:	×C. tashkentensis
Binomial name
×Chitalpa taskentensis Ellis & Wisura[1]

Chitalpa is an intergeneric hybrid flowering tree in the family Bignoniaceae, bred from Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) for desert hardiness and color, and Southern Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) for larger blooms. The name is nothogeneric, or a combination of the two parents' names. Leaves are lanceolate, 4 to 5 inches long and an inch wide. The trumpet-shaped flowers are 1" long and frilly.^[2] The inflorescence is indeterminate, with alternately arranged flowers.

Cultivation

Chitalpa is dry-spell tolerant and fast-growing (several feet a year to 20–30 ft.) and blooms between late spring and late fall.^[3] There are two cultivars: 'Pink Dawn' with pink flowers, and 'Morning Cloud' with white and pale pink blooms.

References

1. ^ University of Arkansas Horticulture: "Chitalpa tashkentensis"
2. ^ Brenzel, Kathleen N. 1997 Sunset Western Garden Book, Chitalpa entry. Sunset Publishing Corp., Menlo Park, 1997.
3. ^ Mountain Valley Growers: Chitalpa tashkentensis 'Pink Dawn'

External links

Media related to Chitalpa at Wikimedia Commons