I'm looking at getting a couple of the Paulownia trees for the lower part of our 1 acre block, and it really seems that very few people know what I'm talking about here in South east Qld.
The paulownia is also known as a Empress tree and Princess trees. The one I'm keen in getting is the variety that grows with a straight trunk and comes out with a nice mauvy/purplish flower.
These trees are deciduous, so lose their rather large leaves in autumn and of course come back in spring. These leaves apparently make for good compost when they break down in the soil. They also make for good shade trees in summer due to these large leaves.
Spoken to a couple of wholesale nurseries, who don't seem to know about them at all !
These trees apparently originate in China.
They will not suit everyone, as they grow up to in excess of 20 metres tall, and they grown very fast, with some talk on the internet of them grown well in excess of 10+ feet high per year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia_tomentosa