Can Paulownia Siebold & Zucc. Become an Invasive Species via Its Seeds?

Kadlec, Jiří; Novosadová, Kateřina; Macháčková, Kateřina; Sýkora, Petr; Pokorný, Radek

doi:10.3390/plants15070989

Open AccessArticle

Can Paulownia Siebold & Zucc. Become an Invasive Species via Its Seeds?

by

Jiří Kadlec

^*

,

Kateřina Novosadová

,

Kateřina Macháčková

,

Petr Sýkora

and

Radek Pokorný

Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Plants 2026, 15(7), 989; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15070989

Submission received: 25 January 2026 / Revised: 18 March 2026 / Accepted: 21 March 2026 / Published: 24 March 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Invasive Plant Ecology)

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Abstract

Paulownia plantations are established in large numbers worldwide for their high production of quality wood. Paulownia tomentosa is considered an invasive plant in many countries; however, other species, and mainly their hybrids that grow in plantations, are classified neither as invasive nor non-invasive plants, although the risk of spontaneous spreading of its seeds can be very great. In April and September 2022, we conducted a germination experiment where we used three species and six hybrids of Paulownia. The germination rates of all selected species and hybrids were very high, especially if the seeds were left at a temperature of +4 °C—almost 90% (April) and around 60% (September). When the seeds were exposed to below-zero temperatures (i.e., −15 °C), the germination rates were still high and, moreover, those of Hybrids were higher than those of Species. Therefore, all species of Paulownia, and mainly the hybrids, have the potential to be invasive.

Keywords: germination rate; germination energy; hybrids; P. tomentosa; P. elongata; P. fortunei

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MDPI and ACS Style

Kadlec, J.; Novosadová, K.; Macháčková, K.; Sýkora, P.; Pokorný, R. Can Paulownia Siebold & Zucc. Become an Invasive Species via Its Seeds? Plants 2026, 15, 989. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15070989

AMA Style

Kadlec J, Novosadová K, Macháčková K, Sýkora P, Pokorný R. Can Paulownia Siebold & Zucc. Become an Invasive Species via Its Seeds? Plants. 2026; 15(7):989. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15070989

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kadlec, Jiří, Kateřina Novosadová, Kateřina Macháčková, Petr Sýkora, and Radek Pokorný. 2026. "Can Paulownia Siebold & Zucc. Become an Invasive Species via Its Seeds?" Plants 15, no. 7: 989. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15070989

APA Style

Kadlec, J., Novosadová, K., Macháčková, K., Sýkora, P., & Pokorný, R. (2026). Can Paulownia Siebold & Zucc. Become an Invasive Species via Its Seeds? Plants, 15(7), 989. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15070989

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Can Paulownia Siebold & Zucc. Become an Invasive Species via Its Seeds?

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