WHAT IS PAULOWNIA?

Paulownia, knows also as the Princess tree or the Phoenix tree, is the tree with the fastest growth rhythm  in the world.

If it’s cultivated under proper conditions, it can grow up to 20 m in 3 years, allowing its harvesting. There are currently known at least 28 species of Paulownia: P.Elongate, P.Fargesii, P.Fortunei, P.Glabrata, P.Taiwania, P.Tormentosa, known also as Kiri.

Paulownia has been cultivated in China for at least 3000 years, in the United States since 1800 and in Japan since 1970, when the paulownia wood was an export business worth billions of dollars.

PAULOWNIA COTEVISA 2

This clone was created especially for the European climate, in labs, by improving the performance and durability to low and high temperatures (-35 .. +55 degrees Celsius), receiving international recognition, having a European passport, quality certificate, as well as an international trade license.

This tree plays a very important role in the purchase of lumber, wood for the furniture industry, fuel and other uses.

One of the most versatile woody plants there is, paulownia became very popular in the West, where its cultivation is in full progress, especially for the manufacture of furniture, plywood and biomass.

PAULOWNIA WOOD

• It doesn’t have gnarls, which reduces the waste very much, thus representing a very good choice for buyers.
• It is a very good insulator, it has a high resistance to temperature, the ignition temperature being double in comparison with other types of wood.
• It has extraordinary properties, thus being used in various ways.

• The weight of paulownia wood is very low, with a dry density of approximately 260 kg/m3.
• The wood resistance is given by an elasticity modulus of 5.6 Gpa and a modulus of rupture of 28 Mpa. So it’s a relatively lightweight species and has a very high resistance to weight.
• The deformation of the wood is given by the contraction coefficient and this is very low in comparison to most types of wood, namely it is 0.094 radial 0.268 tangential and 0.362 in volume, thus the lumber has a high level of dimensional stability.
• The hardness of the paulownia wood is given by Janka hardness, namely it’s 1.3 kN. This is a lower coefficient in comparison to other types of wood.

• Paulownia is extremely resistant to the attack and rot of insects. Research indicates that the wood is not attractive to termites. The rot on the neglected wood tends to be only on the surface.
• The capability of thermal insulation is one of the best, as it is an insulating lumber, much superior to brick, concrete or steel.
• With one of the lowest thermal conductivity for wood, of only 0.07 Kcal / m / hour / Cdeg, paulownia holds the heat very well.
• With an autoignition temperature of approximately 400 ° C (in most hardwood species, the autoignition temperature is approximately 220 ° C).
• The sap of paulownia is not resinous, so the application of finishing products with various solvents doesn’t  have any interaction with the wood, thus creating very good finishing properties for the paulownia finished products.
• Paulownia used for other outdoor uses outside the soil has a long-lasting quality similar to the western red cedar and should be treated with at least two codes of an hydrofuge sealer.
• The major characteristic of Paulownia wood is that it’s easy to work with. All of the aspects concerning carpentry, such as manufacture, nails, screw-fastening, adhesion, polishing, cutting and handling, are very easy to use, with no chips, cracks or splits and the glue and finishes are very easy to apply.

A PAULOWNIA PLANTATION

• It can be an ornamental plant, as it has beautiful flowers that bloom every year, before the leaves grow.
• It regenerates from the same root and can be harvested minimum 3 and maximum 5 times, without the need of replantation.
• The leaves of the tree grow fast and have a great capability to absorb CO2. They absorb 60t of CO2 per hectare in a year, the equivalent of 100,000 km in a car ride and 2 kilos of paulownia correspond to one litre of diesel fuel.
• It is a plant that produces honey – a production of honey / ha of approximately 700 kg.
• It doesn’t harm the soil, more than that, it improves it.
• It has a taproot of 10-12 m, which stabilizes the soil.
• It cannot breed, as the seeds are sterile, this plant being non-invasive.

• At last, one of the most important advantages is that this hybrid cannot be subjected to the forest regime, as it is an agricultural plant. This means that it can be cut at any time, not obeying the forest regime.
• It represents a durable source of biofuel and this thing helps solving the global energy crisis.