Paulownia

Name: 

 Nepali- Bodhsal
 Japanese- Kiri
 Otheers- Raajkumari/ Maharani birkshya

Origin: China

Biology:

60-70 Ft tall
In spring, it flowers in blue and white colour for 1 month
leaves are long and wide measuring up to 2 ft long 
Stem is quite light(40x compared to other tress) and bit yellow in colour

Variety:
17 var among which Tomentosa and Fortunei  are the fast growing(matures in 8-10 years)

Growth:
1 year= 20-30 ft tall
5-6 years= 60-70 ft tall
8-10 years= Fully matures

Economy (2016 Nepal):
1  tree yields 30-36 ft³ wood
1 Ft³ costs- Rs 15,000
1 tree will give us Rs 40,000- 60000

Cultivation:
Cultivated upto 2100 masl
Plants/ha—200 

Uses:

1. wood is khadilo, kira nalagni, na mikkinay, na bangini, na pasaangrinay, na futni, chadai na jalnii

2. Furniture,ships, toys, house, oil, wine, beer, fruits packaging, aeroplane gliders etc
3. After cutting up the wood, its dust is used to make mattress, quilt

4. Leaf has fat and sugar as well as up to 20% protein so can be used as a forage

Intercropping:
Turmeric, Pomegranate, Mango, Lychee, Pineapple

Trivia:
10x more Carbon absorb from atmosphere than other trees thus gives more O₂ . Absorbed Carbon gets circulated around root “kanda”. Also reduces atmospheric Temperature by reducing pollution thus keeping environment clean.

In china when daughter is born, it is planted and during the daughter marriage, it is cut down to make furniture as a dowry.

Nepal Context (2016):

2 decades ago introduced ( 1990’s) in Godavari

In 41 districts cultivated from terai to hill

KU biotech distributes its seed

Forest ministry is going to evaluate its all characters in terai and hill in 5-5 places in ½ ha as research station

IT IS NEITHER INVASIVE NOR SUPRESSESIVE TREE . (In 2005 IUCN listed 166 invasive and suppressive plants in which Paulownia was not on that list)

Source: Gorkhapatra of May 28, 2016 by Lakshmi Prasad Pangeni as “Bahu upayogi banaspati pauloniya”