Princess Tree
Paulownia tomentosa · Paulowniaceae · 참오동나무
How to spot it
Large heart-shaped opposite leaves with velvety hairs on both sides, and large clusters of pale lilac tubular flowers in spring.
Look
- Leaves
- Large egg-shaped or heart-shaped opposite simple leaves with soft hairs on both sides.
- Flowers
- Pale purple to pinkish tubular flowers grow in large upright clusters.
- Fruit
- Woody egg-shaped capsules ripen brown and split, releasing many tiny winged seeds.
- Bark
- Thin gray-brown bark with shallow cracks and lenticels.
Where it grows
- In Korea
- Planted
- Native to
- China.
- Ecology
- Grows fast in disturbed clearings and roadsides and spreads by its own seed. It is managed as an invasive species in North Carolina, USA.