南方泡桐 nan fang pao tong

Paulownia australis Gong Tong.

Trees; crown umbellate. Trunk to 5 m. Branches spreading. Leaf blade ovate-cordate, abaxially densely viscid hairy or stellate tomentose, margin entire or undulate and angled, apex acute. Thyrses broadly conical, to 80 cm; cymes with peduncle 6-7 mm, terminal cyme subsessile. Calyx glabrescent or not after flowering; lobes 1/3-2/5 of calyx length. Corolla purple, ventrally whitish and with 2 conspicuous longitudinal folds, tubular-campanulate, 5-7.5 cm. Capsule ellipsoid, ca. 4 cm, stellate hairy when young; pericarp to 2 mm. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Jul-Aug.

* Secondary forests; below 1200 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Taiwan, Zhejiang.

Paulownia taiwaniana appears to be intermediate between P. kawakamii and P. fortunei, and it is most likely a hybrid between these two species.