Camden Gardens 
by the presence of dowering trees, bat the 
very fields and hillsides abound in them. A 
tree that has thrived and multiplied through 
the Piedmont region during the past twenty 
years is the Paulownia (Paulownia imperialist 
named in honor of the Princess Anna 
Paulowna, daughter of Paul I. of Russia. 
It was introduced into the United States 
from Japan in 1840. It grows rapidly to a 
height of twenty or thirty feet, has large 
heart-shaped leaves, and is covered early in 
May with enormous clusters of purple blos¬ 
soms. These blossoms appear on the bare 
brown stems and branches in advance of the 
leaves, the effect being most exquisite against 
the blue sky. The advent of the Paulownia 
here was preceded by glowing accounts from 
abroad, and it was enthusiastically received 
by naturalists and extensively planted ; but 
it did not thrive in the North, and has now 
largely disappeared. In the South, however, 
it took root and multiplied, for its seeds 
are winged. It has taken to the fields, 
the hedges, the alleys, to every spot 
where it could grow unmolested. In May 
I stood on a Southern hillside and looked 
along a red road that disappeared in the 
distance. Between where I stood and the 
remote horizon I counted one hundred 
and twenty Paulownia trees in full bloom, 
each a picture of riotous lavender loveli¬ 
ness. 
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