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Paulownia
A transplanted hardwood
that grows like a weed
and works like a dream
by John H. Melhuish, Jr.
P
aulownia, a light-colored hardwood revered for centuries by
Japanese craftsmen because of its workability and beauty,
may someday be the wood of choice for many American
woodworkers and an economic boon for loggers in the Southeast.
Not bad for a u-ee that apparently slipped into the United States
accidentally, in the form of seeds used for packing material.
I fi rst became interested in paulownia wood while working for
the U.S. Forest Service on projects to reclaim land that had been
strip-mined. Loggers and environmentalists were enthusiastic
about the paulownia development in mined-out areas. The trees
grow at an astounding rate, from seed to 10-ft.-tall in six months
(see the inset photo at right), and they grow best in areas with
poor-quality soil. I, along with other researchers, feel that it is impOl-tam
to find good uses for the lumber once the trees have outgrown
d1eir usefulness as soil stabilizers on the strip-mined lands.
Because few American craftsmen have worked with d1e wood, I
asked some local woodworkers to try it. You can see some of their
results in the photos on p. 51. So far the results of our early woodworking
experiments have been promising.
A stable wood with a long tradition
Paulownia is a lightweight but very strong, very stable wood d1at's
easily worked with sharp tools. It has a satiny surface d1at stains
and finishes very well and an open grain that resembles oak or ash
(see the bottom left photo on p. 51). The color of the wood itself
varies according to where d1e trees grow and when they are har-
Paulownia trees are a miracle
of growth. Even in areas
with poor soi4 the trees can
grow to be nearly 60 ft. tall,
like the one shown in the
photo above, in a relatively
short time. You can gauge this
growth by the inset photo,
which shows a woman standing
next to a one-year-old
tree. Despite this rapid growth,
the wood is easy to dry and
can be worked within a few
weeks of harvesting.
Dick Top photo: Burrows; insel photo: John Melhuish
March/April 1992 49