Plant ID

[Dale Hatfield]

Been in the woods all my life. Have a forestry degree. Teach at a forestry school. But if it didnt make a log i didnt pay much  mind. Now a little older and wanting to be smarter. I have now noticed a woody plant.
This plant has  bark about like a sumac .
Has very large leaves  One per stem Leaf  about 10 to twelve inches wide and about as long.
  Opposite  stemed(branch).  Leaf stem was hollow. it is about half an inch round.  May have been fuzzy. Plant was about 10 to 12 feet tall.
Growing in a mixed hardwood stand that was cut about 10 years ago.
Never seen this before Or have I, and now seams to be everywhere.
any clues
Dale

[Tom]

look for some pictures of Paulownia.  It sure sounds like you found some.   I didn't know it was "volunteering" that far north.

[Dale Hatfield]

Tom after looking at a bunch of pictures. Then finding one of a young tree.Without adoubt you hit it right on the head.
I dont know if it was planted or if it has started on its own . Ill have to ask the landowner. If he planted it I feel bad as i broke a few leaves/stems off  in my investigations.
Dale

[Tom]

breaking off a leaf won't hurt anything.    :D

Paulownia has been an experiment in the South for a few years and the landowners have found it to be quite labor intensive.   It must be "cropped" like tobacco to generate a decent log. As a matter of fact, the recommendations are to chop the first stem down after the first year to generate a healthier second stem the following year.  This one is then tended to make a sawlog.   

We don't have many in Florida, thank goodness.  I have seen the Appalachians throughout North Carolina littered with them along the sides of the road.  A very prolific plant in the right invironment.

[Phorester]

Yep, paulownia.  Considered invasive.

[Dale Hatfield]

Well Its not on our state invasive plant list. They are too busy with tree of heaven. I really think its too late for that.
At any rate Paulowina is just starting to show up in southern ohio.I have Had a few people ask me what it was. I see more of it as i venture farther south.
Dale

[OneWithWood]

I have noticed more volunteer Paulownia than Ailanthus of late.  I have an ongoing war with both of them.

[SwampDonkey]

It's on some back yard lawns here, but the cold north kills it back to almost ground level each year.  ;D Then it grows about 6 feet again the next season. Looks more like a lilac shrub in a few years.