PRINCESS TREE
Paulownia tomentosa (Thunb.) Steud.
Other Name: Paulownia.
Growth Form: Small to medium tree to 45 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 1½ feet; crown rounded.
Bark: Gray, more or less smooth.
Twigs: Stout, grayish, finely hairy; leaf scars opposite, nearly spherical but with a notch at the top, with many bundle traces in a ring.
Buds: Half-round, minutely hairy.
Leaves: Opposite, simple; blades mostly heart-shaped, tapering to a short point at the tip, up to about 10 inches long and nearly as broad, smooth along the edges, minutely hairy on both surfaces.
Flowers: Large, showy, fragrant, several in a large cluster, appearing in late April or early May, the clusters sometimes a foot long, each flower up to 2 inches long, the petals violet with yellow stripes.
Fruit: Ovoid capsules up to 1½ inches long, pointed at the tip, brown, containing numerous winged seeds.
Use: Popular as an ornamental because of its handsome flowers.