n. [ From the language of the Indians of Carolina, where Catesby discovered this tree in the year 1726. ] (Bot.) A genus of American and East Indian trees, of which the best known species are the Catalpa bignonioides, a large, ornamental North American tree, with spotted white flowers and long cylindrical pods, and the Catalpa speciosa, of the Mississipi valley; -- called also Indian bean. [ 1913 Webster ]