Martin Howard on sat 16 jun 01
The lovely Catalpa bignoides just outside our Pottery produces long purple
bean like pods after its beautiful candles of white and pink. The leaves are
really large and give wonderful shade to this south facing wall and room.
But I would certainly not think of using any part of it for packing pots.
It is hardy tree. A very large specimen is in the open in the Botanical
Gardens in Warsaw, Poland, flowering profusely each year.
Although it starts late in Spring, it certainly makes up for that by its
leaves, flowers and fruit. If only it was edible as well :-)
Our specimen was planted by the architect of the renovation of Webb's
Cottage, a Christopher BEAN. So that is the real derivation of the tree's
name :-)
Martin Howard
Webb's Cottage Pottery
Woolpits Road, Great Saling
BRAINTREE, Essex CM7 5DZ
England
martin@webbscottage.co.uk
http://www.webbscottage.co.uk
Janet Kaiser on sat 16 jun 01
There may be a bit of misinformation here... Paulownia
is native to the USA. The long seed pods which look
like giant vanilla pods would surely be unsuitable for
packaging? There are not many seeds inside, so it would
need vast quantities to produce packaging material.
I quote:
"Big pale crushable leaves give a tree the look of
being in tropical kit. In Florida or Cap Ferrat you
wouldn't give the Catalpa a second glance: which makes
it all the more effective in Philadelphia or Frinton.
The Catalpa and the Paulownia (or Empress Tree) are two
trees northern gardens can grow as a reminder of the
jacaranda and other tropical excesses. They are so
similar in most ways that one is surprised to find them
in different botanical families - the Bignoniaceae and
the Scrophulariaceae. What they have in common are
flowers like foxgloves, weak and pithy young wood and
their oversized leaves. The most obvious difference is
that the catalpa's flower-clusters hang while the
Paulownia's stand erect. And that catalpa flowers are
white spotted with purple, while Paulownia's are purple
all over.
Catalpa's other name of Indian Bean Tree only
reinforces the tropical impression. But Indiana bean
tree would be nearer the mark. It is a mid-western
native; another of the trees that turn up only in North
America and China. Nothing to do with India - only with
Indian beans, its pencil-like pods.
There are two American Catalpas: the southern C.
bignonioides more common in gardens and the northern C.
speciosa, a far bigger tree, making (surprisingly
considering its pithy shoots) timber that will lie on
the wet ground for a century and not rot.
The southern Catalpa is also commonest in Europe. It t
ends to spread, even to sprawl from a short trunk or
from none. Its heart-shaped leaves start hairy in the
spring, growing shiny above as they reach their full
nine or ten inches at flowering time in mid-summer.
Young trees produce only leaves, but old ones sometimes
perform prodigiously with clusters of their extremely
elaborate flowers.
The place for a Catalpa is on a lawn that has both
space, sun and shelter from wind. Such rare spots are
not lightly allotted though. A tree must be more than
merely conspicuous to compete. There are hybrid
Catalpas (American crossed with Chinese species) that
offer further distractions: double-size leaves in the
case of C. x erubescens "J. C. Teas"; purplish ones in
the case of C. x e. "Purpurea". Best of all is the
golden cultivar of the southern catalpa C.b. "Aurea";
the nearest thing to a permanently sunlit hill.
The Empress Tree : Paulownia tomentosa can be
disappointing for flowers in northern gardens. It has
the rather illogical habit of forming substantial
flower-buds in autumn which winter-cold often kills.
Some gardeners for this reason forget about them
altogether and coppice the plant, taking advantage of
its natural vigour to force huge furry leaves out of
it. It seems that the more recently introduced
Paulownia fargesii from China may do better with
flowers - and also make a bigger tree."
From:
"The International Book of Trees - A guide and tribute
to the trees of our forests and gardens"
by Hugh Johnson
ISBN 0 8553 015 5
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
> Paulownia seeds were used as packing for pottery and
other
> delicate items sent from Japan around the turn of the
last century. The seeds scattered and grew wonderfully
around the SE united States.
Jan McQueary on sat 16 jun 01
Paulownia and Catalpa have dfferent seeds.
>From Manual of Woody Landscape Plants by Michael Dirr:
Paulownia fruit consists of ovoid, beaked dehiscent capsule, 1-2 inches
long, containing up to 2000 small winged seeds. 85,000 seeds per ounce
and a large tree may produce 20 million seeds in a year. No seed
dormancy, but light is necessary for germination. Fresh seed has a
germination capacity of 90 percent in 19 days and will germinate like
grass if placed on the surface of the medium under mist. Native habitat
China. Introduced to US in 1834. Escaped from cultivation from southern
New York to Georgia.
Jan McQueary
________________________________________________________________
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Bill Aycock on sat 16 jun 01
>Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2001 06:52:45 -0500
>To: Janet Kaiser
>From: Bill Aycock
>Subject: Re: Empress Tree and Indian Bean (was: Hako)
>In-Reply-To: <00cc01c0f600$3746e5c0$bf38883e@default>
>References:
<001501c0f543$5245e460$19c50340@0018015993>
>
>Janet- Sorry to disagree- The Paulonia, or Empress tree, or Princess tree
is NOT native to the US- is is Asian. The Catalpa is the one with the long,
Vanilla-like beans. Both have small, almost orchid-like flowers, but the
Paulonia has round pods, that split open to release the seeds.
>
>I have both types, and cultivate some of the Paulonia, for the large
leaves. The mature tree if left alone, has leaves that are about two
hand-spans across. If a tree of at least 4-5 inches diameter is cut in the
fall, up about two or three feet from the root- the growth in the spring is
a spurt- and the leaves get to be over two FEET across. This happens to
trees alone the highway edge, so the large leaves are often seen there, and
the normal mature trees are not recognized as paulonia.
>
>I grow these trees for Iris, because they have a strong natural dye . In
order to be able to cut some of them every year, I have to keep several
growing. Luckily, I have the space to do this. A tree of about 8 inches
can grow over twenty feet in a season, after being trimmed. It is startling.
>
>Bill- on Persimmon Hill- where MANY varieties of tree are enjoyed.
>
>
>
>At 02:01 AM 6/16/01 +0100, you wrote:
>>There may be a bit of misinformation here... Paulownia
>>is native to the USA. The long seed pods which look
>>like giant vanilla pods would surely be unsuitable for
>>packaging? There are not many seeds inside, so it would
>>need vast quantities to produce packaging material.
>>
>>I quote:
>>
>>"Big pale crushable leaves give a tree the look of
>>being in tropical kit. In Florida or Cap Ferrat you
>>wouldn't give the Catalpa a second glance: which makes
>>it all the more effective in Philadelphia or Frinton.
>>
>>The Catalpa and the Paulownia (or Empress Tree) are two
>>trees northern gardens can grow as a reminder of the
>>jacaranda and other tropical excesses. T
-
Bill Aycock --- Persimmon Hill
Woodville, Alabama, US 35776
(in the N.E. corner of the State)
W4BSG -- Grid EM64vr
baycock@HiWAAY.net
w4bsg@arrl.net
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