Paulownia elongata is a species of plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

 in the Paulowniaceae family. It is used as a forestry tree in North America and China. It is reportedly the fastest growing hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

 tree, which are known to grow up to 15 or more feet in the first year. Commercial plantations are normally established from selected clones resulting from micropropagation

Micropropagation

Micropropagation is the practice of rapidly multiplying stock plant material to produce a large number of progeny plants, using modern plant tissue culture methods....

. Some proponents claim that P. elongata plantations can reach a harvestable size in five to seven years. Leaves are very large and pubescent. This species can withstand a very wide range of environmental conditions, however, it will not grow at altitude.

P. elongata has a number of uses:

• An ornamental tree of parks and gardens; grown for its purple flowers and shade tolerance.
• It is a forestry tree producing strong, yet light wood.
• Owing to the large quantity of biomass produced annually, it is suited for use as a feedstock for biofuel
  Biofuel
  Biofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases...
  
  production.