History
By the 1830s, the porcelain trade brought regular contact between Asia and the United States, which was probably how the Paulownia spread to this continent. In the days before packing "peanuts" and plastic sheets of air bubbles, Paulownia seedpods served as packing material for shipments of delicate porcelain to the United States. When the pods were discarded, the trees sprouted throughout the East, especially along the banks of the Hudson, Schuylkill, and Brandywine Rivers. These introduced trees were popular exotics in their early years and were written about in horticultural and botanical magazines of the time. A brisk trade in paulownia seedlings soon developed. However, by 1847, people had learned that the tree could be propagated by root cuttings as well and the demand for seedlings dropped precipitously. Although the paulownia became widespread along the East Coast within 20 years of its arrival its messy seed pods and lack of color in the fall discouraged horticulturists from using it more frequently in cultivated garden settings.

Today the paulownia is found mostly as a wild-growing tree throughout the mid-atlantic and southeastern United States, often along state and federal highways in the first decade after construction. When not in bloom, the paulownia is easily recognized during the summer by the enormous size of its leaves, which provide deep shade even on the brightest days.

Biologist Peter Beckjord believes that, in the United States and in developing countries where land has been damaged by poor agricultural and industrial practices, paulownia trees may be an ideal solution for land reclamation. Because the paulownia regenerates quickly from roots, it is able to survive fires (perhaps one of the reasons it was associated with the phoenix) and thrive in marginal conditions. And, according to Beckjord, the species paves the way for, rather than competes with, successive growth of other, more desirable trees. By the time a paulownia reaches the flowering stage-after eight to ten years-other trees and shrubs have had a chance to become established in the area. Paulownia seeds cannot penetrate the debris on the forest floor to sprout and take root, allowing other species to take over.