It was originally sought after as an exotic ornamental tree in Europe and Asia, and later introduced to North America in 1844. Its fruits (botanically capsules) were also used as packaging material for goods shipped from East Asia to North America, leading to Paulownia groves where they were dumped near major ports. The tree has not persisted prominently in US gardens, in part due to its overwintering brown fruits that some consider ugly.[3] In some areas it has escaped cultivation and is found in disturbed plots. Some US authorities consider the genus an invasive species,[4] but in Europe, where it is also grown in gardens, it is not regarded as invasive.
Paulownia trees produce as many as 20 million tiny seeds per year. However, the seeds are very susceptible to soil biota and only colonize well on sterile soils (such as after a high temperature wildfire). Well-drained soil is also essential. Successful plantations usually purchase plants that have been professionally propagated from root cuttings or seedlings.[5] Although seeds, seedlings, and roots of even mature trees are susceptible to rot, the wood is not and is used for boat building and surfboards.
Dimensionally stable and given its straight grain and light weight, Paulownia timber is extremely easy to work with and is reported to be resistant to decay, with good weathering characteristics.[6]
Trees can grow to maturity in under 10 years and produce strong, lightweight timber, good as firewood, and with an even higher strength to weight ratio than balsa wood.[7] Its density is low at around 0.28 kilograms per liter (2.8 lb/imp gal),[8][7][9] although significantly higher than balsa’s very low 0.16 kilograms per liter (1.6 lb/imp gal).[10][11]https://youtu.be/uDVKSWD013E?si=XS2yOBx5sIlO_9LO
We have one Paulownia tree on our yard. It is very close to a building, so we are trying to kill it. If we cut it to ground level in spring, new shoots are 5 meters high again by autumn.
There is a market for the wood. Trees 40+ years old can be 2 feet or more diameter. The species seen most often in the U.S. is Paulownia tomentosa. Paulownia tomentosa - Wikipedia
Finch Nursery in eastern NC are a blueberry nursery but the former owner who passed away a few years ago was also an avid birdsman. He grew Paulownia trees and harvested them to build bluebird boxes with. He was arguably as known for those bluebird houses as he was for the blueberries.
Paulownia being fast growing, easy to dry, stable, rot resistant, light, and with good weathering characteristics it makes for a very good bird house material. It’s a gangly tree in my opinion so even with the nice flowers it’s not great as an ornamental. I see naturalized trees here and there but at least in our region they’re not very invasive fortunately.
There are tons of pawlonia trees in NC. You just have to know where to look. While not stated very often in online articles, they prefer slightly alkaline soil.
There was a huge pawlonia behind my parent’s house about 20 years ago. It was cut and sold for timber. There are still dozens of seedlings growing near where it stood.
Ah so that’s probably it. I’m out on the coastal plains and the soil is always acidic or very acidic. The piedmont is usually also acidic but it’s more varied and less acidic in general, and then the mountains is a completely different ballgame.
I see ‘escaped’ Paulownia frequently along highway cuts through rocky hillsides here in western KY. We were visiting our son in Danville KY about 20 years ago, and I spotted a Paulownia growing out of a crack in the cement block wall of a business, about 15 ft above street level. There used to be one at the edge of town, growing up out of the top of an old abandoned concrete silo, which was taken down, several years ago.
There was a single, OLD Paulownia growing in the woods at the north end of our farm when we bought this place in 1994. It died & fell, and for a few years, there were vigorous suckers shooting up from the roots - which I had intended to cut & poison, but they all appear to have died off of their own accord. Thankfully.
I’ve seen folks intentionally manage them like @Peyote - cutting them to the ground annually, so that they throw up vigorous shoots that grow 10-20 ft in a season with HUGE leaves… you just don’t get the floral display - but they are impressive!
Ky has an underlying limestone layer. This is one reason why black walnut is so prevalent in KY. It is also why Paulownia is so common any time the limestone is laid bare and there is enough soil for Paulownia to root.
Last year it hadn’t been trimmed back for I think 2 years, so it was flowering in April/May. I am not sure which Paulownia species we’ve got here but it had very showy purple/blue flowers. Indeed quite impressive. If it was in a good spot I would let it grow, but it is 5 or 6 feet from a building.
I have one in the edge of the woods just off my back yard. Assume a bird planted it. It just grew there.
It has pretty purple blossoms on it and they turn into these seed pods that favor a hickory nut but are thinner and you can crush them by stepping on them.
It has been there 20+ years and I have not seen any others on my 30 acres. It does not seem invasive to me.. not here.
My grandparents had a Paulownia in the yard of their little tenant house next door, that had been there for as long as I could remember (probably since the early 1950s), and I don’t ever recall fnding or seeing a ‘volunteer’ seedling anywhere on the farm or neighboring university properties.
