[1] The genus, originally Pavlovnia but now usually spelled Paulownia, was named in honour of Anna Pavlovna, queen consort of The Netherlands (1795–1865), daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia.

Its fruits (botanically capsules) were also used as packaging material for goods shipped from East Asia to North America, leading to Paulownia groves where they were dumped near major ports.

Dimensionally stable and given its straight grain and light weight, Paulownia timber is extremely easy to work with and is reported to be resistant to decay, with good weathering characteristics.

[6] Trees can grow to maturity in under 10 years and produce strong, lightweight timber, good as firewood, and with an even higher strength to weight ratio than balsa wood.

The base of the stamen filaments are bent so that they run along the upper portion of the flower with the arrow shaped anthers then depositing pollen on the dorsal side of a variety of pollen-feeding insects.

The stigma tip has a singular small hole that leads to a tubular dilated chamber at the top of the style, covered in receptive papillae.

In the species P. kawakamii, the stigma tip is slightly bilobed, which is a unique morphological characteristic distinguishing Paulownia from all of the Lamiales.

The ovary then develops into a sticky green oval capsule tapered at the apex with the remaining dried up style sometimes still attached.

Paulownia once occurred in North America, with fossilized leaves being found in Tertiary strata of Ellensburg Canyon of Washington state.

As a forestry crop, Paulownia are exacting in their requirements, performing well only in very well draining soil, with summer rainfall or availability of irrigation water.

[citation needed] Paulownia is extremely fast growing, increasing in height by up to 6 metres (20 ft) in one year when young.

)[19] Paulownia is also used in Chinese agroforestry systems because it grows quickly, its wood is light but strong, its flowers are rich in nectar, its leaves make good fodder for farm animals, it is deep-rooting, and it is late-leafing, and its canopy is sparse enough to allow crops below it get enough light to grow while being sheltered from the wind.

[22][23]Paulownia boxes called tomobako (ともばこ) protect ceramic works and other fragile items during shipment and storage.

Japanese wardrobes called tansu (箪笥) as well as much Korean lacquerware is also made from the wood.It is important in China, Korea, and Japan for making the soundboards of stringed musical instruments such as the guqin, guzheng, pipa, koto, and gayageum.