Is it invasive?
No, the Empress tree is not invasive.
There are 23 species of Paulownia (the biological name of the Empress tree). The one that is most commonly known is the Paulownia tomentosa and this happens to be the only invasive variety. We use only non-invasive species and the trees we grow are only from mother stock. This means they are unable to reproduce without a human hand to help.
Where is it native to?
The tree is native to China – however, we have good reason to believe it has North American roots. In fact, the oldest known fossils of the tree were found in the United States. Dating to 40,000 years ago, fossils have been found from Washington State and Alabama. However, the tree does not like the cold and it was wiped out in the ice ages.
The Chinese re-introduced the Empress tree to North America 200 years ago. All the research to date shows that the tree plays nicely with other species.
Source: Carbon Offsets World Tree.com
