Paulownia tomentosa (Thunb.) Steud.

Selected images: Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record View all images (9)

Photo: Mark Hyde
By minor road parallel to Glenara Avenue North, Harare

Photo: Mark Hyde
Corner of Fisher Avenue and Rolfe Avenue, Harare

Synonyms:	Bignonia tomentosa Thunb. Paulownia imperialis Siebold & Zucc.
Common names:	Empress tree (English)
Description:	Tree to 14 m tall. Leaves 12.5-25 cm long, entire or 3-lobed, broadly ovate-cordate, pubescent above, tomentose beneath, acuminate, long-petiolate. Inflorescence of large terminal panicles bearing many flowers; flowers showy, pale violet with darker spots inside, appearing before the leaves. Pedicels and calyx rusty-tomentose; calyx lobes 5, short, rounded. Capsule 3.5-5 cm long, woody, ovoid, beaked.
Notes:	Similar to Catalpa bignonioides, but P. tomentosa differs in the following characters: flowers appear with the leaves; the fruit is broader and shorter (C. bignonioides has linear fruits 15-35 cm long); the calyx is 5-lobed (2-lobed in Catalpa);
Derivation of specific name:	tomentosa: tomentose, densely woolly
Flowering time:	Aug - Nov
Worldwide distribution:	Native to China
Growth form(s):	Tree.
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Literature:	Bailey, L.H. (1949). Manual of Cultivated Plants Revised edition. Macmillan, New York. Pages 900 - 901.

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Paulownia tomentosa
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Paulownia tomentosa
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Paulownia tomentosa
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Paulownia tomentosa
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Paulownia tomentosa
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Paulownia tomentosa
JSTOR Plant Science: Paulownia tomentosa
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Paulownia tomentosa
Plants of the World Online: Paulownia tomentosa
Tropicos: Paulownia tomentosa
Wikipedia: Paulownia tomentosa