any of 11 species of trees in the genus Catalpa (family Bignoniaceae), native to eastern Asia, eastern North America, and the West Indies. Catalpas have large, attractive leaves and showy, white, yellowish, or purplish flowers. The catalpa fruit is a long cylindrical pod bearing numerous seeds with white tufts of hair at each end. The common catalpa is C. bignonioides, which yields a durable timber and is one of the most widely planted ornamental species.