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Princess Tree
The lavender-flowered tree from the 'fastest growing tree in the world' ads. One mature princess tree sheds millions of tiny wind- and water-borne seeds onto cliffs, riverbanks and burned ground, and cut stumps sprout back. Connecticut prohibits its sale.
Princess tree is not poisonous and is safe to handle; the fuzzy leaves are sticky rather than irritant, though the fine hairs can bother sensitive skin and fallen flowers get slippery on paving. The genuine hazards are structural and ecological. The wood is light and brittle, so mature trees shed limbs in wind, ice, and wet snow and are poor choices near a house, driveway, or power line. And a single tree seeds a whole watershed. Do not plant it - not even the clones sold as fast timber.
Overview
The one thing to knowPrincess tree, or empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa), is the tree behind a hundred online ads promising the fastest-growing tree in the world and a fortune in timber.
Princess tree, or empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa), is the tree behind a hundred online ads promising the fastest-growing tree in the world and a fortune in timber. The claims about speed are not even exaggerated - a young paulownia really can put on ten or fifteen feet in a season, with leaves two feet across - and in April it covers itself in upright spikes of fragrant lavender flowers before a single leaf opens, which is genuinely beautiful. That is the whole sales pitch, and it leaves out the part that matters.
A mature princess tree produces capsules by the thousand, each holding a couple of thousand seeds so small and so finely winged that they travel on wind and float on water - the number often quoted is up to twenty million seeds from one tree in a year. They germinate on bare mineral ground, which in practice means roadcuts, gravel, scoured riverbanks, landslides, burned forest, and bare rock outcrops, including the cliff and bluff habitats that carry some of the rarest plants in the Appalachians. Cut it down and the roots answer with a ring of sprouts. Connecticut prohibits its sale, and state agencies across the mid-Atlantic, Appalachians, and Southeast list it as invasive - check your own state's list. This entry is here to help you recognize it, understand what it is doing, and remove it properly.
Quick facts
For identification. Not a growing guide.
- Life cycle
- Perennial, lives about 50 years
- Where it grows
- Full sun · Part sun, well-drained soil
- Height
- 40 ft25 to 60
- Spread
- 35 ft20 to 50
- Cold
- Takes hard frostdamaged below -15°F
- Heat
- Struggles above 105°F
- Self-sows
- Yes. Never let it set seed.
Through the year
How to recognize it in each season.
Lavender foxglove bloom before the leaves (identify)
Apr to May, every year- Recognize it: upright spikes of lavender foxglove flowers on a bare treeIn mid spring, before any leaves appear, princess tree covers itself in upright clusters of pale purple, trumpet-shaped, fragrant flowers about two inches long - unmistakably foxglove-like, which is where the name comes from. A big bare tree flowering solid lavender in April is princess tree, not catalpa: catalpa flowers are WHITE with yellow and purple spotting and appear in June, well after the leaves.
- Flowering means seed is coming - deal with it nowA tree in bloom is a seed factory about to run. If you are going to remove it, this is the year to do it: capsules set within weeks of bloom and release seed the following winter, and each mature tree can put out millions. Cutting alone will not do it - plan a cut-stump or basal-bark treatment, or hire an arborist for anything large, before the seed goes out.
Key signs- Upright lavender trumpet flowers on a leafless tree in April
- Heavy sweet fragrance and a carpet of dropped purple flowers
- Trees blooming on cliff faces, roadcuts, and river bluffs - the invasion front
Huge fuzzy leaves & explosive growth (identify & control)
May to Sep, every year- Enormous opposite heart-shaped leaves, velvety on both sidesThe leaves are huge - typically 6 to 12 inches, and up to two feet across on stump sprouts and young saplings - broadly heart-shaped, held in OPPOSITE pairs, and densely fuzzy on both surfaces, often faintly sticky. The twigs are stout with big raised dots and a hollow or chambered pith. Catalpa leaves are similar in outline but nearly hairless and often in whorls of three; northern catalpa also lacks the fuzz.
- Pull seedlings while they are smallSeedlings appear on bare mineral soil - gravel, roadcuts, washed riverbank, burned ground, cracks in rock, and the edges of a graded lot. Pull them when the soil is moist and they are under a foot, taking the whole root; a first-year seedling can already be waist high, so check monthly through summer rather than once a season. Anything bigger has a taproot and will need cutting and stump treatment instead.
Key signs- Opposite, heart-shaped leaves 6 inches to 2 feet across, fuzzy both sides
- Shoots putting on 8 to 15 feet in a single season
- Seedlings colonizing gravel, roadcuts, burned ground, and scoured riverbanks
Woody capsules & the seed load
Jun to Oct, every year- Clusters of green pecan-shaped capsules turning brownThrough summer the flower clusters become tight bunches of pointed, pecan-shaped capsules, green and sticky at first and drying to hard brown husks. Each capsule holds a couple of thousand tiny winged seeds, and a mature tree carries thousands of capsules - the often-quoted figure is up to twenty million seeds in a year from one tree. The capsules split over winter and stay on the twigs long after.
- Prioritize seed-bearing trees for removalWhen you have several to deal with, take out the capsule-bearing trees first: they are the seed source for everything downwind and downstream. Cutting a fruiting tree in late summer still leaves the capsules to dry and open, so bag and bin the cut tops rather than leaving them in a brush pile, and never chip fruiting material onto a trail or a bank.
Key signs- Clusters of pointed pecan-shaped capsules, green then brown
- Split husks staying on the twigs into the next season
- Seedling flushes downwind and downstream of a fruiting tree
Winter ID & the control window
Nov to Mar, every year- Fuzzy brown flower buds and last year's capsulesPrincess tree is easiest to name in winter. It forms its flower buds the previous fall and carries them all winter as clusters of small, velvety, tan-brown balls at the twig tips, alongside the split brown capsules of last year's crop. No other tree in eastern North America shows that combination. Stout twigs, hollow pith, and big pale lenticels confirm it.
- Treat stems in the dormant season - and never just cutDormant-season basal-bark treatment on stems under about six inches, and cut-stump treatment on larger ones, are the standard approaches; late summer to early fall foliar work is the other window. Whatever you use, choose a product whose LABEL lists the site you are treating and follow that label exactly, including buffers near water and wells. Cutting alone is the one thing guaranteed to fail: the roots answer with a ring of sprouts.
Key signs- Clusters of velvety tan flower buds held through winter
- Old split capsules persisting on the twigs
- Rings of root sprouts around a stump cut in a previous year
Hazards
Millions of Wind- and Water-Borne SeedsSeverity High DisordernowThe seed load is why a single ornamental in a yard becomes a regional problem: nothing about removing your tree is urgent to you, and everything about it is urgent to the riverbank downstream.
Clusters of pointed pecan-shaped capsules on the tree; split husks persisting through winter; flushes of fast fuzzy-leaved seedlings on graded ground, gravel, burn scars, and river banks downwind or downstream.
Kill the parent trees by cut-stump or basal-bark treatment on-label, then keep pulling seedlings for at least three seasons - the seedbank keeps germinating after the tree is gone.
Never plant it; remove capsule-bearing trees first to shut off the seed; bag and bin fruiting cut tops rather than piling or chipping them near trails and streams.
The core hazard: each woody capsule holds roughly two thousand dust-fine winged seeds and a mature tree carries thousands of capsules, so a single princess tree can release on the order of twenty million seeds in a year. They travel on wind and float on water, and they germinate on any bare, sunny mineral surface - roadcuts, gravel, burned forest, landslides, flood-scoured riverbanks, and the rock outcrops and cliffs that hold some of the rarest plants in the Appalachians.
Root Sprouting After CuttingSeverity High DisordernowThis is the single most common failure people report on this species: the tree comes down, and next summer there are twenty of it.
Rings of fast, huge-leaved sprouts around an old stump; new stems appearing several feet out from where a tree was felled; clumps of multiple trunks where a single tree once stood.
Cut low and treat the fresh cut surface with herbicide immediately, or basal-bark stems under about six inches during the dormant season, or treat regrowth foliage in late summer - always with a product whose label lists your site, following the label. Expect to re-treat sprouts for two or three years.
Do not fell a princess tree without a plan for the stump; pull seedlings while they are small enough that the whole root comes out.
Why casual removal backfires: princess tree responds to cutting, fire, or damage by sending up a dense ring of vigorous sprouts from the stump and shallow roots, converting one trunk into a multi-stemmed clump that flowers and fruits again within a few years. Each cutting without root control makes the stand denser rather than smaller.
Brittle Wood & Limb FailureSeverity Medium DisordernowWorth weighing against the ad copy: the same growth rate that sells the tree is what produces the weak wood.
Torn limb stubs and split crotches after storms; large branches down after wet snow; heavy litter of flowers, capsules, and big leaves on paths, gutters, and roofs; hollowing or decline in trees past thirty or forty years.
Have an arborist assess and remove failing or hazardous trees - and take the removal as the moment to replace it with a sounder native rather than replanting speed.
Do not plant it, and never near a house, driveway, parking area, or power line; pruning cannot make brittle wood strong.
A direct property hazard and the reason fast growth is a poor argument for this tree: paulownia wood is exceptionally light and weak, the crown is heavy with oversized leaves, and the tree is short-lived. Limbs break in wind, ice, and wet snow, and mature trees decline and fail decades sooner than the natives they were planted to outpace.
Grower tips
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