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Paulownia tomentosa - the quiet invader?

Paulownia species are becoming increasingly popular in Croatia because of their ability to grow rapidly and create large biomass in a short period of time which makes them lucrative, attracting attention of landowners. While Paulownia wood has been used for a wide variety of purposes in China for more than 2500 years, in Europe more people are interested in growing these trees only in the last decades. Sterile, fast growing paulownia hybrids are widely held plantation types in Europe. Paulownia tomentosa commonly known as princess tree is a deciduous tree native to China. It was introduced into Europe as an ornamental plant in 1834. The species is a prolific seed producer, with millions of seeds produced per individual tree. Most P. tomentosa specimens reported in Europe have been planted in parks or they typically occur in urban areas or near- natural habitats mainly as a single tree and so far have not demonstrated naturalization. Since there are no formal risk and invasion potential assessments P. tomentosa is considered potentially invasive. Invasive potential was analyzed in the case study of the plantation in Slavonia (NE Croatia) using risk screening tools. Taking into account the biology of P. tomentosa as well as the lack of targeted research on the invasiveness of the species in the wild, the results of the risk screening tools suggest that this species has high invasion potential hence the future spread of this species should be closely monitored.

princess tree ; paulownia hybrids ; Europe, plant invasion ; urban vegetation risk screening tools ; monitoring

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