Pink Dawn Chitalpa                chi-TAL-pa tash-KEN-ten-sis

• Broadleaf deciduous tree, small to medium, 20-35 ft (6-10.7 m) tall, branches dense, spreading.   Leaves alternate, occasionally opposite, to 20 cm long, narrow, tapering at both apex and base, dull green, glabrous above and shaggy soft hair below.  Flowers in erect clusters (racemes), trumpet-shaped, resemble Catalpa, pink, yellowish center.  Does not generally produce fruit.
• Sun and partial shade.  Blooms for several months during the summer.  A tough, drought tolerant plant, adapted to the southwestern U.S, but apparently not suitable for the southeastern U.S.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 6     ×Chitalpa tashkentensis is a hybrid of two genera, Catalpa bignonoides (Southern Catalpa) and Chilopsis linearis (Desert Willow)(see ×Chitalpa for more details).  Clone no. 1 of the cross was named ‘Pink Dawn’, it is the most commonly sold selection.  ‘Morning Cloud’ (Clone No. 2) is also available, it has pale pink to white flowers, is more upright, and grows larger than ‘Pink Dawn’.
• Corvallis: near 2403 NW Professional Drive (offices complex south of Walnut Ave. and west of Kings Blvd).
• Oregon State Univ. campus: west side Withycombe Hall; NW corner Lab. Animal Res. Center; Hort. Dept., Lewis-Brown Farm, Peoria Road.