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: Neither is native to New Jersey. 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 transi...