What are the trees with the clusters of seed pods or purple flowers?
The Paulownia is considered to be one of our invasive exotics, meaning it has colonized parts of our mountain ecosystems to the extent that other plants are excluded from normal growth. The Paulownia is very successful in establishing itself in sunny, steep or rocky terrain because of the thousands of tiny seed it produces. Riding on the wind in late autumn into winter, the seeds germinate in spring once they ve found the slightest nook of soil or moisture among rocks and road banks.
