Anyone know what this tree is?

[okb]

We were told this tree is rare and had some come up missing that were near the road. I have only seen it in this location before.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/okbee/Plants/DSCN1863.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/okbee/Plants/DSCN1865.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/okbee/Plants/DSCN1866.jpg

Thanks,
Kevin

P.S.
Sourwood anyone? :D

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb192/okbee/Plants/DSCN1861.jpg

[dragonfly]

Doesn't look like a tree to me. Don't know what it is, but GardenWeb has a great discussion forum with a "Name That Plant" section. You might try there.

[kenpkr]

Not rare, very invasive.
Paulownia tomentosa- Princess tree
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/pato1.htm

[WVbeekeeper]

they aren't even worth cutting down for the wood when they get big. the wood is real light and soft. we cut some down once and had it milled, ending up burning it to make room for some better wood.

[okb]

Thanks much.
We were just going by what we were told. It was cut down to the ground last winter this is all this years growth.

[shawnwri]

Keep cutting and maybe you can kill it before it spreads.

[Redneck]

That is the correct name of the tree, Royal Paulownia. The trees when they get large enough saw are usually shipped to Japan. The problem is knowing where to sell them. They do bring a very high price. A friend of mine use to cut them and sell them in North Carolina to a Japanese person. He cut as many back then as he could find, and told me that he made the most money that year that he had even made. When the tree matures they have clusters of purple flowers.

[GaSteve]

Apparently it's grown for lumber and makes pretty good honey -- at least according to this Australian site.

http://www.paulowniatrees.com.au/Honey.htm

[Tillie]

They're all over Georgia, GaSteve and the blooms look a lot like wisteria and they bloom at the same time as wisteria, just to confuse the issue!

Linda T in Atlanta

[Bizzybee]

But the lore is to cool behind the tree. Or at least the one I heard many years ago.

It's that the young daughter of a Japanese Emperor was given a garden built by her father because of her love for flowers. And in the garden was the one tree that wasn't planted by the gardeners and was seen as an intruder. When the father instructed the tree be cut down, his daughter stopped them and told her father that it was her favorite tree in the garden. So the Emperor quickly proclaimed the tree to be called the Princess Tree in honor of his daughter. And further proclaimed that for anyone to cut a Princess Tree would mean their death by beheading!

Probably not true, But sweet! Huh :)

[BULLSEYE BILL]

I had one growing at my last home and really liked it. It was fun to watch grow and the flowers were spectacualr. The bees liked them although I don't know what they were collecting from it.

Mine froze one early spring and I had to cut it down. It made a bunch of suckers that spring and I selected the best and it made a really nice tree. In the yard I did have to mow some down and later dig out the roots, but it was for only that one year after the freeze.

I just planted four here at my new home. Two of the shorter ones with the purple flowers and two of the taller types with the white flowers.

In the instructions it said to water once a week deeply to keep them from having shallow roots and making suckers plants in your yard.