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Paulownia tomentosa |
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| | Bud things |
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| Synonym(s) |
Bignonia tomentosa |
| Common name |
Chinese empress tree |
| Family |
scrophulariaceae |
| Life cycle |
tree |
| Flowers |
pink (spring) |
| Size |
to 80' |
| Light |
sun |
| Cultural notes |
ordinary garden soil |
From seed  |
easy, germinate at room temperature
|
Fast-growing hardy tree. We grew our empress tree from seed about five years ago, and it grew into a handsome tree - but it never bloomed. The last few years it produced bud-like structures in fall, but they were always dead come spring. So the main attraction is the large, felted, tropical-looking leaves. These are late to arrive in spring, and the first to go in fall, after a hard frost - no fall foliage, unfortunately.
After waiting for flowers in vain for several years, we decided the tree's time was up, and chopped it down, to gain a better view of the crab apple (which does bloom very reliably). Paulownias are known for returning from the roots, and are sometimes coppiced annually to promote large leaves. Sure enough, ours sprang right back into action after its trunk was severed, with amazing vigor. What's more, several additional shoots appeared at some distance from the original tree, sent up by wayward roots deprived of their source of nourishment.
| | After the first good freeze, all the leaves plop off unceremoniously, exposing the tree's open structure |
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| | Light-colored, medium-textured bark |
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| | Very large furry leaves on the post-lop new growth |
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| | Closeup of tan buds in November after leaf drop |
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| | Showing how tall the tree grew by late July after being lopped in early spring |
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following area: back yard island About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Paulownia tomentosa
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| George | May 18, 2008 | We live in Des Moines Iowa and have expreienced the same issue. My mother wanted it for the flowers and we planted it 5 years ago and have never seen any flowers, but we like the large felty leaves and it propigates from the roots like crazy. |
| Jeffrey | Apr 29, 2008 | I recentley recieved this tree in the mail April 29, 2008 and it's 3" tall. I have the Tomentosa variety of the Royal Emprees Tree(Paulownia) and I was wondering what state or zone you live in. Because if the flower buds die on my tree due to cold weather then I will quickly throw it in the trash.
I'm in zone 6 |
| jack newbauer | Aug 20, 2008 | what is the difference between 1. a paulownia tree
2. a royal paulownia tree
3. a royal empress tree
4. a chineese empress tree
or are they all the same thing. I am trying to find what is called a chinese empress tree. thank you jack newbauer
To the best of my knowledge, those are all names applied to Paulownia tomentosa, interchangeably. |
| Dr J | Sep 24, 2008 | This is an invasive species and as such should never be puposely planted anywhere under any circumstances in the US period! |
| Frank Gomez | Dec 11, 2008 | In case you did not know, those buds will be seed pods on the next year. I had some of those pods last year, cut them down but there were no seeds in them at all. This year (November 2008) I just noticed the old buds are much larger about 1.5" in diameter, and there are new smaller buds. I cut down a branch with some of the large buds. When I cracked open one of them thousands of white seeds just floated on the air. I am now giving away many thousands of seeds seeds on GardenWeb. seed forum.
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| Anne Rault | Mar 27, 2009 | I agree with Dr J. I live on the east coast of Australia. My mother-in-law gave us one of these.We planted it near the chookhouse and it looked like it would lift the concrete floor after about five years. So we chopped it down and it just shot out of the stump. Alan built a fire in the trunk and this had no impact. It is now comming up all over the place close to the original tree. You only have to take yours eyes off it for a second and it is two metres tall. Don't plant it anywhere in Australia or it will end up like the dreaded tobacco plant. An absolute feral pest!! |
| Juba | Aug 30, 2009 | The flowers won't usually come out for 10-15 years if it is gorn from seed. And it is not invasive everywhere in the US. It is not a plant it and forget it tree though, if you don't take care of it the first few years it will look trashy until it becomes about 10 years old and it is a wonderful tree. |
| Vlad | Apr 21, 2010 | What is the difference between Paulownia Elongata, Paulownia tomentosa, etc? They all look the same to me, at least from the pictures. I planted a Paulownia this year and I would like to know how can I determine what kind of Paulownia it is (I got the little tree from someone who does not know what kind of Paulownia he has and he does not care either as long as it is BIG!) . |
| Skylar | Apr 24, 2010 | There are many subspecies of the Paulownia Tree, most are similar, but certain have different qualities. Paulownia Elongata is the fastest growing natural breed, that can grow in excess of 50 to 80 feet, but can be a little bit unstable and is not a safe tree in a residential area. The flowers are a cherry tree pink color. Paulownia Tomentosa is the most cold hardy tree, so if you live farther north, this is the best one to plant, and has a pinkish white bloom. Farther south, this tree is the most invasive, so any coastal or mid Atlantic area should not plant this tree. It grows about 30-50 feet. Paulownia Kawakamaii will grow about 30-40 feet tall, it will have a pink white colored spray of blooms (my favorite type) but it grows better farther south, and is not as invasive.
Any paulownia can only be guaranteed to thrive in area zone 6 and south, zone 5 it may grow, though sometimes it may die back on it's smallest branches and the cold may kill the flower buds sometimes. (Usually once it gets to around 0 degrees Fahrenheit) Anywhere north, it is hard to be sure it will survive the winter and is best to plant for just having the tropical looking leaves during the summer and fast growth. These are the Latin names, and each tree has many English names, that are applied to many different species.
As Juba said, this is no plant it and forget it tree. Only get this if you have time to take extensive care of it. Otherwise, it will become a trash tree that will be dropping dirty leafs and branches in the slightest wind or storm if you don’t help it become it’s best. But, in my mind, the reward is worth the effort. |
| Vlad | May 06, 2010 | Thank you, comrade Skylar, for you extensive informations! I live in Romania and even if there are not many Paulownia trees here, those I have seen have grown quite big in 3-5 years without any care from their planters. Maybe they were lucky. |
| steve | May 22, 2010 | mine tree was cut to the stump when i bought my house in 06. i didnt know what it was it even had spikes driven into stump,the first year it grew to 18 feet tall,i cut it down tothe stump,every year it grows 20 plus feet the leaves are as big as a 32 gallon garbage lid, this year I let it be and now its already has grow about 3 feet its almost 25 feet tall and has fresh starts from the base again everone in my neighborhood stops and looks at this crazy tree,over the last four years new ones have started to grow on the other side of my double driveway and now has also started another about 15 feet away.really a cool plant/tree love to watch it grow. |
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Last modified:
January 30, 2008
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