Paulowniaceae (paulownia family) Paulownia

Paulownia tomentosa empress tree

Eastern China, Korea
Empress tree in the Inner Quad. Sairus Patel, 12 May 2024
Paulownia tomentosa leaf & flower. John Rawlings, ca. 2005

A rather striking tree with great hairy leaves and flowers in the form of delicately figured 2-inch trumpets that appear just before the leaves. The tree conveys a distinctly tropical impression when in leaf (it is deciduous), but is at home in a cold climate. Campus’s sole specimen is in the inner northwest island in the Inner Quad. In Palo Alto, see one on the right at 272 Ferne Avenue. It was named for Anna Paulowna (1795–1865), daughter of Tsar Paul I, not to be confused with the airborne ballerina Anna Pavlova, after whom the famous Australasian dessert was named.

As winter progresses, fruits form but some flowers remain; they take the form of a tube that represents the fusion of petals in prehistoric times and sit in a brown suede cup. If you carefully pull the corolla out of the cup a ½-inch pistil emerges, attached to the domed green ovary in the cup. Tearing the tube open, you will see four stamens growing from the inside wall of the tube, not directly from the ovary as with other flowers. On ripening, the ovary develops into a fat green fruit the shape of a surveyor’s plumb bob. Flowers, fruit, and last year’s opened fruit can be seen on the tree in December, and masses of fine hairy seeds can be shaken loose.

Name derivation: Paulownia – For Anna Paulowna (1795–1865), daughter of Tsar Paul I; tomentosa – tomentosa: hairy (the leaves).

About this Entry: The main text of this entry is from the book Trees of Stanford and Environs, by Ronald Bracewell, published 2005. Family changed from Bignoniaceae to Scrophulariaceae (ref. Flora of China) but be aware that Paulowniaceae is used by some (Feb 2024, SP). Palo Alto location added; family name changed yet again (Jul 2024, SP).