DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 
245 
The Paulownia Tree. Paulownia. 
Nat. Ord. Scrophulariacese. Lin. Syst. — 
The Paulownia is an entirely new ornamental tree, ver) 
lately introduced into our gardens and pleasure-grounds 
from Japan, and is likely to prove hardy here, wherever 
the Ailantus stands the winter, being naturally from the 
same soil and climate as that tree. It is remarkable for 
the large size of its foliage, and the great rapidity of its 
growth. The largest leaves are more than two feet in 
diameter, slightly rough or hairy, and serrated on the 
edges. They are heart-shaped, and have been likened to 
those of the Catalpa, but they perhaps more nearly re- 
semble those of the common Sun-flower. 
In its growth, this tree, while young, equals or exceeds 
the Ailantus. In rich soils, near Paris, it has produced 
shoots, in a single season, 12 or 14 feet in length. After 
being two or three years planted, it commences yielding 
its blossoms in panicled clusters. These are bluish lilac, 
of an open mouthed, tubular form, are very abundantly 
distributed, and, together with the large foliage, and the 
robust habit of growth, give this tree a gay and striking 
appearance. Its flower buds open during the last of 
April, or early in May, and have a slight, syringa-like 
perfume. 
Should the Paulownia prove as hardy as (from our fine 
dry summers for ripening its wood) we confidently 
anticipate # it will be worthy of a prominent place in every 
arrangement of choice ornamental trees. 
* We doubt if this tree proves quite as hardy as Mr. Downing believed. 
Our own trees, some of the oldest in the country, have missed their bloom for 
three years — though previously, they had blossomed regularly and well. It 
is not impossible that, as the tree gets older, and its growth less rampant, it 
may ripen off its wood better, and thus be in a better condition to resist 
Spring frosts. — II. W. S. 
