# Princess tree (Paulownia tomentosa)

> An extremely fast tree with huge velvety heart-shaped leaves, showy upright clusters of fragrant violet foxglove-like flowers before the leaves in spring, and woody capsules that release thousands of tiny winged seeds. It is sold as a shade or 'miracle' timber tree and can grow 15 ft in a year, but the wood is weak, flower buds freeze, it is messy, and it colonizes roadcuts, stream banks and burned ground across the eastern US. Wisconsin prohibits it, Connecticut bans its sale, and Pennsylvania and Virginia list it as invasive.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/paulownia-tomentosa · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Empress tree, Royal paulownia, Foxglove tree
- Family: Paulowniaceae
- Type: Broadleaf, loses its leaves in winter
- Mature height: 13 m; spread 8 m
- Growth: Fast growing; lives about 70 years
- USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 9
- Light: Sun or part shade
- Water: Moderate water
- Soil: Tolerates clay, sand, rocky and infertile soil at any pH; prefers deep, moist, well-drained sandy loam
- Native range: Native to central and eastern China.

**Benefits:** Flowers, Fast canopy, Pollinators

**Good for:** Timber

**Watch out for:** Invasive elsewhere, Weak wood, Heavy litter

## Care

Not recommended for planting. Removal: cutting alone fails because it sends up root sprouts many feet from the stump; cut and treat stumps or girdle and treat. Remove seedlings before they set seed capsules.

## Where it stands

- **Native:** China (Native to central and eastern China.)
- **Invasive:** United States (Naturalized in at least 25 eastern states; listed invasive in North Carolina and by the USDA National Invasive Species Information Center.); PA, United States (On Pennsylvania DCNR's invasive plant fact sheet list.); VA, United States (Virginia DCR Invasive Plant Species List, Medium invasiveness rank.)
- **Prohibited:** CT, United States (Potentially Invasive on the Connecticut Invasive Plant List; sale and movement prohibited by statute.); WI, United States (Prohibited under Wisconsin NR 40: possession, transport and introduction banned and control required.)

## Sources

- https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/paulownia-tomentosa/
- https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/PATO2
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia_tomentosa
- https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Invasives/RegulatedSpecies
- https://cipwg.uconn.edu/invasive_plant_list/
- https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/dcnr/conservation/wild-plants/invasive-plants/invasive-plant-fact-sheets.html
- https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/nh-invasive-plant-list-2024.pdf
- https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/pautom/all.html