2015 tree following 11: The empress bares all

Holly berries in the background make the seed capsules look Christmassy, don’t you think?

I was lucky with the weather when I visited my empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa) in Cardiff’s Bute Park this week. There had been torrential rain and gale-force winds for days but there was a brief respite on Tuesday.

I was meeting a friend for coffee at the Pettigrew Tea Rooms at the entrance to the park, so it made sense to choose this as my December day for the empress. I think it lovely that the cafe is named after a family of Victorian gardeners who did so much to create Cardiff’s parks, particularly in their planting of trees.

The empress is damp and bare after recent wind and rain

The Paulownia has lost nearly all its leaves and is surrounded by mole hills.

Only a few shreds of green leaf remain

Most of the big leaves are now rotting into the grass and cow parsley

Lesser celandine leaves (Ranunculus ficaria) are a sign that spring will come again

These buds will also open in spring with wonderful purple blooms

The seed capsules are still firmly closed…

…even those on the ground

I took that one home to cut it open and when I shook it I could hear what was inside thudding around like a dense ball of kapok or cotton wool…

The easiest way to open the pod is to cut along the groove, but that marks the internal wall of the capsule…

…I broke open the wall to let out the seeds

The individual winged seeds

It makes you wonder why the park isn’t full of pesky little Paulownia seedlings from this tree.

But back to the empress herself…

After the wet weather the mossy trunk is lush

Sprigs of moss

Lichen – possibly Parmotrema perlatum?

Damage to the trunk shows the pale wood within

I was desperate to find something new to say about the empress after all this time, so I tried to stand still for a minute – what Lucy at Loose and Leafy does for her “stuck foot posts“. I can never manage it, but I stood still for long enough to spot this…

A red balloon caught high in the branches of the empress tree

I think the balloon said 16 on it, and I suppose you could see some significance in that? I first met the empress on January 16 this year, and next year is 2016. I will no doubt visit again in early January, as I would like to see if the seed capsules crack open over the next month to match what I observed in January 2015. And then I must choose a different tree to follow.

You can find out all about tree-following here. And look out for the tree-following link box here on Monday, December 7.

All my Paulownia postings are here.
All my tree postings of any sort are here.