Muscogee Naturalism. Catalpa sp., Winged Head Tree, Tenaxx Country Estate, Wedde, Groningen, The Netherlands
In the seemingly endless potato fields and flats of East Groningen stands proudly Landgoed Tenaxx (= Tenaxx Country Estate), the brain-and-muscle child of the philosopher-naturalist T.C.W. Oudemans. On 30 hectares (about 75 acres) it's a wonderful arboretum primarily financed by its popular companion dino-park with enormous mock-ups of those prehistoric animals. The arboretum is specialised in the 'weeping' variants of trees. Out of the flatlands of this area, Oudemans and his helpers have excavated a hilly edenic Tree Abode with a few delightful ponds... And you might suddenly be surprised by a huge North American plant-eater, Diplodocus (see inset).
The flowers are of a Catalpa Tree. I'm not sure whether Northern (speciosa) or Southern (bignonioides). The name 'Catalpa' comes from the Muscogee language and means something like 'Winged Head'. Catalpa was first scientifically described by Mark Catesby (1683-1749) in 1726. It was given its own genus 'Catalpa' by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (1723-1788) in 1777, correcting great Carolus Linnaeus's earlier 'Bignonia catalpa'.
Muscogee Naturalism. Catalpa sp., Winged Head Tree, Tenaxx Country Estate, Wedde, Groningen, The Netherlands
In the seemingly endless potato fields and flats of East Groningen stands proudly Landgoed Tenaxx (= Tenaxx Country Estate), the brain-and-muscle child of the philosopher-naturalist T.C.W. Oudemans. On 30 hectares (about 75 acres) it's a wonderful arboretum primarily financed by its popular companion dino-park with enormous mock-ups of those prehistoric animals. The arboretum is specialised in the 'weeping' variants of trees. Out of the flatlands of this area, Oudemans and his helpers have excavated a hilly edenic Tree Abode with a few delightful ponds... And you might suddenly be surprised by a huge North American plant-eater, Diplodocus (see inset).
The flowers are of a Catalpa Tree. I'm not sure whether Northern (speciosa) or Southern (bignonioides). The name 'Catalpa' comes from the Muscogee language and means something like 'Winged Head'. Catalpa was first scientifically described by Mark Catesby (1683-1749) in 1726. It was given its own genus 'Catalpa' by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (1723-1788) in 1777, correcting great Carolus Linnaeus's earlier 'Bignonia catalpa'.