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  • From: "Guy Clark" <guyclark@socket.net>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Paulownia
  • Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 21:22:21 -0600


Actually Paulownia is in the Scrophulariaceae family, but is sometimes
placed in Bignoniaceae family. If you think about the flowers, the
Scrophulariaceae placement makes sense. It is funny, I had in my mind that
it was an N fixer also. Perhaps its similarity to Catalpa, or the way it
springs back when it is inevitably killed back to the ground in Zone 5. It
has been pushed by some as a cash cow because of its rapid growth to
harvestable timber size. Not reliably hardy in most Zone 5 climates. At the
very least, do not expect it to flower reliably. May be good for pollarding
or coppicing. Very dense shade may be useful in killing out grass and other
weeds. Its wood is apparently prized by the Japanese for making everything
from rice bowls to musical instruments to air shipping crates to coffins.
Named for Czar Paul's daughter Anna Pavlovna who married Prince Willem of
the Netherlands. Introduced from China to U.S. in 1834 and escaped from
cultivation from New York to Georgia. All of this according to Michael
Dirr's "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants"
Namaste',
Guy Clark



  • Re: Paulownia, Guy Clark, 11/19/1999

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