Viewing post #982393 by JRsbugs

Interesting observation greene.

In the first pics I thought the leaves looked to be opposite in twos, however in the last pic they do appear to be in a whorl of three.

I'm not convinced this is Catalpa, look at the first pic posted by txtome with his hand on the leaf, it's huge. On the link you provide it states:

The Paulownia leaf is usually much larger and broader than the Catalpa leaf. Below is an average sized Paulownia leaf on the left, with a ]very large Catalpa leaf on the right.

I would question the knowledge submitted as fact on your first link.

The second link is more authoritative.

Distinctions from other genera: Paulownia specimens are most likely to be confused with Catalpa in the family Bignoniaceae. Catalpa trees are easily distinguished by the much longer seed pods which are usually more than 15 cm long and can be up to 1 m. Paulownia has branchlets with a hollow pith, while those of Catalpa are solid and whitish. The leaves are similar but the leaf hairs of Catalpa are not stellate. In the Catalpa flower the calyx is two-lobed, the corolla is bell-shaped and whitish with yellow and darkpurplish markings in the throat, and there are five stamens but only two are functional.

http://maxa.maf.govt.nz/sff/ab...

Nowhere in the above distinction has it been stated the difference of two, or three leaves per node. Even if the leaves are three to a node, they are still opposite.

It's still most likely Paulownia tomentosa, or a hybrid of Paulownia.

greene, just saw your last post. This tree is leaning away from shade and being drawn towards light.