European White Birch vs Northern Catalpa (Cigar Tree)

European White Birch is a mid-sized shade tree native to Eurasia. This deciduous tree has a pyramidal form when young, maturing into a rounded crown with arched branches and drooping branchlets.

The trunk is slender, with white bark featuring black diamond-shaped lenticels. European White Birch is an ideal landscape tree for parks and gardens.

Similar to the Cutleaf Weeping Birch, this species is a popular ornamental.

Note: Unfortunately this difficult to grow species is not currently scheduled to grow at TreeTime.ca. Perhaps try purchasing seed from SeedTime.ca and growing your own? Or sign up for a restock notification above.

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.

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