Have you noticed big purple blooms on the trees that grow right on the fence-line between the tennis courts?
The name of the tree is the Royal Paulownia but it is often called the Princess Tree or the Empress Tree. Later in the summer the leaves will grow. The leaves are huge; sometimes as big as two feet across and are velvety-feeling.
Royal Paulownias were brought here from China but they?ve been growing wild in the U.S. for about 150 years. The most amazing thing about them is how unbelievably fast they grow. Go outside and measure how high 15 feet is on the side of your house. That's how high some Paulownias can grow in just ONE summer! Paulownias grow like weeds here. If Jim Fletcher has tried to get rid of them he probably found that it's almost impossible. He could dig up the young ones but if he left any bits of roots in the ground, they would grow right back again. Chop it off at the ground? New shoots will sprout up from the stump. Droughts don't hurt it at all. It can even come right back after a fire, or after bulldozers clear an area.
It grows anywhere, especially in places where other plants won't grow....along the edge of the road or train tracks or parking lots. It will grow in bad soil, in places covered with rocks and on very steep hillsides. People who try to protect the trees that are native to our country don't like the princess tree because of its amazing growth and because it doesn't really belong here. It is called an "invasive species". But some people do like the princess tree.
The Chinese have used it for medicine and for wood for thousands of years. They plant it around their homes to attract the magical phoenix and bring good luck. According to an old story, it's the only tree the phoenix will rest in! Ask your parents to tell you about this magical bird.
The Japanese treasure this tree for its wood. They use it to build the frames of the screens that their homes are traditionally made of. They use it for furniture too. The wood is light-colored and light-weight, but strong. The lumber is so valuable in Japan, that there are growers in our country who plant whole plantations of the fast-growing princess trees just to ship overseas to Japan. They call it the money-tree.
Are our specimens precious? Perhaps not to us, but a few years ago several Paulownia were stolen from our West Woods, apparently for the lumber! So somebody does find them valuable. Be sure to take a look the next time you pass the tennis courts. Wouldn?t a phoenix look spectacular among those purple blooms over the tennis shed?