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Paulowniaceae FAMILY

Paulownia tomentosa

Paulownia tomentosa

Edibility
1/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthFast

Paulownia tomentosa is a very cold-hardy plant, able to tolerate temperatures down to around -25°c when the wood has been fully ripened. It grows best in areas with hot summers - in areas with cooler summers (even if the winters are mild), such as the maritime regions of the temperate zone, it often grows poorly, failing to properly ripen its wood and suffering frost damage over the winter[1, 2]. Younger plants, and especially seedlings less than 2 years old, are much more frost tender, as is the new growth in the spring[1, 2]. Prefers a deep moderately fertile moisture retentive but well-drained soil in a sunny sheltered position[1, 2]. Plants are very susceptible to waterlogging of the soil, and can die within 5 days if the ground is flooded[3]. Succeeds in poor soils and in highly acid conditions[4]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 7, tolerating 4.5 - 8[5]. Plants are tolerant of atmospheric pollution[2]. Established plants are drought tolerant[4]. A very ornamental and fast growing plant[1]. Trees can reach a mean height of 15 metres with a mean diameter of the bole around 30 cm within 10 years of planting[4]. Annual wood production potential is 25 - 35 cubic metres per hectare[5]. Trees are very amenable to coppicing[1]. They can be coppiced annually, when they will then produce very vigorous growth that can reach more than 5 metres tall with large leaves that can be up to 1 metre wide[1]. The flower buds are formed in autumn and can be excited into premature growth during mild winter weather, this growth is then more susceptible to frost damage[6, 1]. The flower buds are hardy to about -15°c when dormant[2]. Plants do not flower reliably in maritime zones, this is probably due to insufficient warmth and dryness in the summer[2]. Branches tend to be brittle[2]. The flowers have a delicate sweet fragrance[7]. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[2].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame - it will usually germinate rapidly[2, 4]. Sow stored seed in late winter in a greenhouse at 15 - 20°c[8]. The seed requires light for germination[2]. Fair to good germination. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 8cm with a heel, mid summer in a frame. Overwinter in a cold frame for its first year and plant out in late spring[2]. Root cuttings 4cm long in December. Good percentage[8]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Paulownia+tomentosa>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  4. [4]Invasive Species Compendium — http://www.cabi.org ↩︎An immense resource - in depth information on over 900 species of invasive plants (it also has information on animals, fungi etc).
  5. [5]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  6. [6]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  7. [7]Scented Flora of the World. — Genders. R. · Robert Hale. London. · 1994 · ISBN 0-7090-5440-8 ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
  8. [8]Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. — Sheat. W. G. · MacMillan and Co · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.
  9. [9]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  10. [10]Plantae Wilsonae. Vol 1 - 3 — Wilson. E. H. · University Press; Cambridge. · 1911 - 1917 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Details of the palnts collected by the plant collector E. H. Wilson on his travels in China. Gives some habitats. Not for the casual reader. It can be downloaded from the internet.
  11. [11]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  12. [12]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  13. [13]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  14. [14]A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. — Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. · Houghton Mifflin Co. · 1990 · ISBN 0395467225 ↩︎A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
  15. [15]Chinese Materia Medica. — Stuart. Rev. G. A. · Taipei. Southern Materials Centre · 1911 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
  16. [16]CosIng — http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/ ↩︎CosIng is the European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients.
  17. [17]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
  18. [18]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  19. [19]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  20. [20]Corean Flora. — Wilson. E. H. and Trollope. M. N. · Royal Asiatic Society · 1918 · ISBN - ↩︎A very small handbook, it does give a little bit of information on Korean plants.