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PDF of Research Bulletin by Chapter:
Paulownia species have been regarded as amenity trees in New Zealand for more than 50 years. Following the publication of an article by Alan Meyer in the New Zealand Farm Forestry Journal (1980), Ian Barton, a forestry consultant, became interested in the potential of Paulownia as a productive forest tree. Ian and his wife Jan set up a nursery on their Hunua property near Auckland, and Ian published a newsletter, Paulownia News, to keep clients informed about his nursery activities.
In 1989, Kevin Avery of New Plymouth circulated a paper describing the virtues of Paulownia through the national Rural Delivery service. Although staff at the New Zealand Forest Research Institute had been aware of the market potential of Paulownia for many years, only a small number of plants had been established by researchers in New Zealand and little was known about preferred species or management systems. The Paulownia Action Group was set up in 1989 to promote evaluation of the species under New Zealand conditions. A visit to China by Ian Barton and Ian Nicholas in 1991 resulted in better understanding of the genus. As interest in Paulownia declined, probably as a result of poor performances of new plantations, the Action Group went into recess in 1996.
Support from the MAF Sustainable Farming Fund, combined with existing Action Group Funds, was obtained to produce this Handbook. This Handbook brings together information gathered during the Paulownia Action group era. It shows that Paulownia can be regarded as a multi-purpose tree with potential for use as a short-rotation timber species when grown under specific New Zealand conditions.
The input of the Action Group members, in particular Jim Peele who has facilitated the production aspects of this Handbook, MAF Sustainable Farming Fund, and Ensis is very much appreciated. Comments on the text from Dr Mike Wilcox and Dr Tony Shelbourne, Dr Jim Douglas, Professor Warwick Silvester, Dr Luigi Gea, and Elizabeth Miller, valuable editing from Dr Ruth Gadgil, and the input of Teresa McConchie for her graphics expertise are all most appreciated. We are grateful to Dr Alan Dickson for the drawings in Fig. 19, Paul Wynen for the photos of P. kawakamii in Fig. 24, Dr Jacqueline Bond for help with the photos of leaf hairs (Fig.20a and b), and Ian Barton for specimens.