Princess Tree

I was in the Research Woods part of Duke Farms this winter when I saw what looked like an unusual nut shell, including some that were still on the tree. My belief is that this is from a Princess Tree (aka Empress Tree aka Foxglove Tree). (It sounds like it's not a true nut, and that the shell should have a bunch of small seeds that mostly disperse through the wind.)

Princess Trees have a couple things in common with the catalpas I discussed yesterday:
  1. Neither is native to New Jersey.
  2. Both have unusually large leaves, sometimes causing them to be confused with 1 another.
Since the US doesn't have princesses, you might be suspicious that a Princess Tree isn't native to the country, and you'd be right [1]. It sounds like the names Princess Tree and Empress Tree both refer to Anna Pavlovna, a Russian princess who married into the Netherlands royal family [2].

The Princess Tree is considered a pioneer tree, being 1 of the 1st trees to appear as a meadow begins its transition to forest. This is because it's both fast-growing and sun-loving. Eventually though they tend to get shaded out as bigger, slower-growing trees take over.

January 28, 2023 at Duke Farms
Photo 263479695, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

January 28, 2023 at Duke Farms
Photo 263479739, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


[1] Queen Anne's Lace is another example of a non-native plant with a suspiciously non-American name.

[2] It doesn't sound like the Dutch Empire was especially prominent in China; perhaps a Dutch national was the 1st European to find/name the tree.

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