Princess Paulonia

The Princess Paulonia trees are now in full bloom. One does not see too many of them but I know where several are residing, and they are rather remarkable. This one is at the front of our property. There is not a leaf in sight, only velvety brown casings and millions of mauve blossoms. The tree is ungainly with long and straggly limbs which will be all but hidden from view later in summer when the extremely large leaves, up to two feet across, take over. These trees grow very fast, perhaps six to eight feet per year. This tree is native to China (it seems everything is from China these days) and came to North America in an interesting way. The tree produces an abundance of seeds in soft Styrofoam like pods. These seed pods were used as protective packing materials in crates of goods shipped across the ocean from China, and later along the railways of America. Occasionally, a crate would break open and spill the seeds onto the railroad bed and adjoining ditches and soon the Paulonia trees were everywhere. They can even survive wildfires as the roots are able to regenerate the tree after the fire. Not everything from China is made with cheap labour.