Paulownia
Paulownia is a genus of between 6–17 species (depending on taxonomic authority) of plants in the monogeneric family Paulowniaceae, related to and sometimes included in the Scrophulariaceae. They are native to much of China (its name in Chinese is pinyin: pàotóng), south to northern Laos and Vietnam, and long cultivated elsewhere in eastern Asia, notably in Japan and Korea. They are deciduous tree 10–25 m tall, with large leaves 15–40 cm across, arranged in opposite pairs on the stem. The flowers are produced in early spring on panicles 10–30 cm long, with a tubular purple corolla resembling a foxglove flower. The fruit is a dry capsule, containing thousands of minute seeds.
The genus was named in honour of Queen Anna Pavlovna of the Netherlands (1795–1865), daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia.
Paulownia fortunei is a fast-growing tree that is grown commercially for the production of hardwood timber.
Paulownia tomentosa is listed as an invasive species in the southeastern United States, having been introduced there as an ornamental tree for its decorative flowers.
It is popular in its native China for reforestation, roadside planting and as an ornamental tree. It grows well in a wide variety of soil types, notably poor ones, but needs a lot of light and does not like a high water table. Paulownia timber is a pale whitish coloured wood with a straight grain. Its characteristics of rot resistance and a very high ignition point ensure the timber's popularity in the world market. Paulownia grown on plantations generally has widely spaced growth rings and is therefore much less valuable. The wood is also important in China, Korea, and Japan for making the soundboards of stringed musical instruments such as the guqin, pipa, koto, and kayagum.
Testing by CSIRO in Australia has shown that Paulownia wood is very attractive for wood-boring insects. Paulownia species are also used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Endoclita excrescens.
Paulownia is known in Japanese as kiri, specifically referring to P. tomentosa; it is also known as the "princess tree". It was once customary to plant a Paulownia tree when a baby girl was born, and then to make it into a dresser as a wedding present when she gets married. Paulownia is the mon of the office of prime minister and also serves as the emblem of the cabinet and the government (vis-à-vis the chrysanthemum being the Imperial Seal of Japan). It is one of the suits in hanafuda, associated with the month of December. Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (page 1189; Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993. ISBN 4-06-931098-3) states:
Paulownia wood is very light, fine-grained, soft, and warp-resistant and is used for chests, boxes, and clogs (geta). The wood is burned to make charcoal for sketching and powder for fireworks, the bark is made into a dye, and the leaves are used in vermicide preparations.
The fine grained soft and warp resistant properties also make Paulownia wood exceptionally suited for making wooden surfboards. Tom Wegener, Roy Stewart and more recently "Empress Surfboards" are amongst the shapers who pioneered its use. The resulting surfboards do not need to be glassed unlike Balsa wood.
More recently, it is used as body material for low-cost electric guitars and as the core for lightweight touring skis. It is often used in guitars as the core body, then finished with another kind of wood, such as the Dean ML XM that is made of paulownia as the body but is finished with mahogany.
Paulownia is extremely fast growing; some species of plantation Paulownia can be harvested for saw timber in as little as five years. Once the trees are harvested, they regenerate from their existing root systems, earning them the name of the “Phoenix tree." Paulownia has the ability to reclaim ecologically stressed and degenerate patches of land relatively quickly. Its root systems run deep and penetrate compacted and contaminated soils which have resulted from industrialized development. Paulownia is a phyto-remediator, increasing the organic content of degraded soils, processing and filtering contaminants through the uptake of its vascular system, and emitting oxygen into the atmosphere.
Paulownia Elongata
Paulownia elongata is a species of plant in the Paulowniaceae family. It is used as a forestry tree in North America and China. It is reportedly the fastest growing hardwood trees, which are known to grow up to 15 or more feet in the first year. Commercial plantations are normally established from selected clones resulting from micropropagation. Some proponents claim that P. elongata plantations can reach a harvestable size in five to seven years. Leaves are very large and pubescent. This species can withstand a very wide range of environmental conditions; however, it will not grow at altitude.
P. elongata has a number of uses:
- An ornamental tree of parks and gardens; grown for its purple flowers and shade tolerance.
- It is a forestry tree producing strong, yet light wood.
- Owing to the large quantity of biomass produced annually, it is suited for use as a feedstock for biofuel production.
- For more information on paulownia you may visit our website at www.paulownianow.org
