River Birch vs Northern Catalpa (Cigar Tree)

River Birch has beautiful, peeling, brown bark that reveals camel-colored and pink beneath. It is more borer resistant than white bark birches, which makes it a much longer-lived landscape tree.

Northern Catalpa is a striking feature tree with showy flowers, and very large leaves. Its orchid-like flowers are white with yellow and purple accents, and they have a pleasant fragrance. They bloom from late spring to early summer and can last up to two weeks, attracting hummingbirds and pollinators. The leaves are very large, ranging from 15-30 cm long, 12-20 cm wide, forming a canopy that makes it a good shade tree.

They can tolerate dry conditions as well as standing water, air pollution, and salt. These factors and its beauty contribute to its growing popularity as both a boulevard and ornamental tree in colder areas.

Northern Catalpa produces long bean-like capsules and are sometimes called the Cigar Tree in reference to this fruit.

Compare River Birch with

Compare Northern Catalpa (Cigar Tree) with