Catalpa (Porcher) of the Caribbean...

I had a big surprise today. The catalpa (Thespesia populnea - Malvaceae) that we have in the Caribbean is not the Catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides - Bignoniaceae) of other countries.
We find them generally on beaches. With leaves with the heart shape just like the Catalpa, but the fruits are not the same. Thespesia is closely related to cotton (genus Gossypium), the flowers are alike. It's also called "Porcher","Indian tulip tree", "Seaside Mahoe", "Bebaru", "Miro"....

Ce que nous appelons Catalpa (Katalpa, Kalpata, Porcher) n'a rien à voir avec le Catalpa des autres pays. Celle ci est une Malavacée comme les hibiscus et le cotonnier, le babobab ou la rose trémière.... la fleur ressemble d'ailleurs étrangement à celle du cotonnier. On trouve cet arbre généralement sur les plages ou aux abords des rivières.