Princesstree, Royal Paulownia, Paulownia tomentosa, Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests

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Princesstree, Royal Paulownia

Paulownia tomentosa

Plant: Deciduous tree to 50 feet (15 m) tall and 2 ft (60 cm) diameter, large heart-shaped leaves, fuzzy hairy on both sides, especially the lower surface, persistent pecan-like nuts in terminal clusters in summer to winter after showy pale-violet flowers in early spring before leaves.

Stem: Twigs and branches stout, glossy gray-brown and speckled with numerous white dots (lenticels), terminal bud absent, lateral leaf scars raised and circular becoming larger, dark and sunken with time, pith and wood white, bark light to dark gray and roughened, becoming slightly fissured.

Leaves: Opposite, heart-shaped, fuzzy hairy both surfaces and more so on lower surface (catalpa is not hairy), blades 6-12 in (15-30 cm) long and 5-9 in (13-23 cm) wide, blades of resprouts 16-20 in (40-50 cm) long and 16-20 in (40-50 cm) wide often with tips extending at vein tips, petioles rough hairy, 2-8 in (5-20 cm) long, pale green.

Flowers: Apr-May. Showy panicles of pale-violet flowers cover the tree before leaves, fragrant, flowers tubular with 5 unequal lobes. Linear flower buds turning to ovoid-shaped during summer, hairy.

Fruit and seeds: July-Mar. Terminal clusters of pecan-shaped capsules, 1-2 in (2.5-5 cm) long and 0.6-1 in (1.5-

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October (J. Miller)

2.5 cm) wide, pale green in summer becoming tan in winter, persisting and splitting in halves to release many tiny winged seeds, eventually turning black.

Ecology: Widely planted as an ornamental around old homes and spreading by rootsprouts and abundant seeds. Infrequently planted in plantations. Common on roadsides and forest margins, increasing in numbers. Invades after fire and other disturbances.

Synonyms: princesstree, empresstree.

Resembles catalpa (Catalpa bignoniodes) with less hairy leaves on underside and long-slender catalpa beans that persist.

Exotic Pest Plant Control Recommendations

Bayer International Code - PATO2
FIA Code - 0712


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	States with suspected infestations are shown in red.* * USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA. February 5, 2002.
June (J. Miller)
June (J. Miller)


					Invasive.org is a joint project of The Bugwood Network, USDA Forest Service & USDA APHIS PPQ. The University of Georgia - Warnell School of Forest Resources and College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences - Dept. of Entomology Last updated on Sunday, August 10, 2003 at 11:10 PM Questions and/or comments to the