Discussion

This week's painting is a haiga, a painting with a haiku poem included in the composition. Part of the painting includes an empress tree.

About Paulownia

Paulownia is a genus of 7 to 17 species of flowering hardwood trees depending on the taxonomy used. One species, Paulownia tomentosa, is commonly known as the empress tree. Its name in Japanese is kiri. 

he tree was originally native to China but has been in Japan since at least the 3rd century BC. In the early 19th century, a Dutch botanist acquired paulownia seeds at Dejima, the Dutch trading colony in Nagasaki harbor, and took them to Europe. From trees grown from seed in France, new seedlings were taken to England and later spread to the U.S. The botanist named the tree after Anna Pavlovna, daughter of a Russian Tsar and Queen of the Netherlands. That is how it came to be called empress tree, just one of its common names.

Paulownia trees are deciduous, being bare in the winter, except when grown in the tropics where it can be evergreen.

Young paulownia trees don't produce blossoms until they are 5 to 10 years old, though under extremely favorable conditions, they can bloom in 2 to 3 years. They do produce leaves, however. The leaves of young paulownia trees can be quite large; up to 2 feet across. This tree is 3-months old. 

The leaves of mature paulownia trees are much smaller, but they are still large in comparison to most tree leaves.

Paulownia trees grow extremely rapidly, reaching up to 20 feet in height in the first year.

Blossom buds form in the late summer and mature over the winter. They typically burst into bloom in April or May, emerging before the leaves do.

Here is a closer look at paulownia blossoms. Note their fuzzy appearance.

About two weeks after Empress trees are in bloom, leaves begin to appear.

When in full bloom, a period of a couple of weeks, paulownia trees can be quite spectacular.

Petals begin to drop from blossoms soon after they open. As petals drop, new blossoms continue to appear for a period of about six weeks.

After the flowers fade, woody seed capsules form and mature throughout the summer and fall. 

Each capsule contains up to 2,000 seeds.

The leaves fall off the tree in the winter, too, without changing color, and the cycle repeats the following year.

Paulownia Uses

Paulownia leaves and blossoms are edible and nutritious. The leaves are best gathered when they are young, and they should be cooked. The blossom petals, not as flavorful, can be eaten raw. Paulownia vegetation is more often used for feeding livestock than used for human consumption.

Paulownia trees are the fastest growing hardwood trees in the world. It is very light, fine-grained, and warp- and insect-resistant. Unlike many other hardwoods, it is non-toxic. The photo below compares the trunks of a 40-year-old oak tree with a 5-year-old paulownia tree.

his makes them capable of producing a considerable amount of lumber in relatively short periods of time, reducing the need to devastate natural forests. Trees that are cut down regenerate from their root systems.

The wood is relatively light weight, but is strong and attractive. Different kinds of aging can produce a variety of shades. 

The units of time above for natural aging are months. The units for temperature and UV radiation aging are in hours.

Kiri (paulownia) wood has many uses in Japan. One of the most notable has to do with a cultural practice that began around the 3rd century, AD. Aristocratic families would plant a kiri tree for girls when they were born. By the time the girl became married, the tree would have grown to a considerable size. It was cut down, and a konrei tansu (dowry cabinet) was made from the wood. It became part of the bride's dowry. During the Edo Period (1603 – 1868) when many commoners became wealthy and had more clothing to be stored, the practice became more wide-spread, though its practice has faded in modern times. The photo below shows a Nagoya kiri tansu, a specialized version of a konrei tansu. made in what used to be Japan's Nagoya province. These cabinets could last for centuries.

Japanese artisans have been making kotos from kiri wood since they were introduced to Japan from China during the Nara period (710 – 794).

This is tray was carved from kiri wood.

Mon

The primary word in Japanese for symbols or emblems is mon. Mon are used to decorate and identify an individual, a family, or institution. One such mon is the symbol of the Prime Minister of Japan. That mon is a graphic representation of a kiri (paulownia tree).