Just a thought...
Could it have been a wisteria vine gone wild?
Over the weekend we spotted a vine that had done just that. It had grown up into the trees and down to the road on a fence.
Very pretty as long as it is on someone else's property ;)

No. These are individual trees. There is a stand of about 50 to 100 individual large trees. There are some spread in other areas nearby but that is it. I've never seen trees like these in this area. Maybe someone 100 or 200 years ago introduced them and seeds were dropped in nearby areas.

The structure of these trees set them apart from all other trees. They leaf-out later than the other trees.

Here it is. Very strange to see a large stand of them in one place.

Here is a link that might be useful: royal paulownia

Wow, what a cool tree!

I don't think I've ever seen one.

I know the couple who own them. It is a planted grove for timbering in 10-12 years. They are quite valuable as an export timber going to the orient for those carved boxes and chests you see in import shops. Each tree will be worth several hundred to thousands of dollars. In Japan this is called the 'Kiri" and a young girl's chest (what we call a hope chest) is traditionally made of the wood. The wood is particularly nice in that it has a good grain pattern, a pleasant color and is very stable not shrinking and swelling at different moisture levels like most woods.

George

We had one at our old house, they grow in the wild in Maryland. It was very pretty and had interesting bark, but it was very messy when it would drop flowers, leaves, and seed pods (into my garden aqnd on my driveway). There is a large group of them on the way to Ocean City MD on Rt.50 that was blooming last Sunday 5/6. Very impressive looking !

There are a bunch of these all over Fairmount Park in Philly - including parts across from where I live and along the River Drives. Didn't realize they were used for wood-working.

Is this what it looks like? I always see these trees purple flowers this time of year.(Sorry about the poor quality of the picture I couldn't get a decent shot on foot So I asked my son to drive me and he refused to stop)

Yes, that is it. Apparently, these things have the same ability to reproduce as japanese beetles.

Well at least it's not mimosa they are dreadful and smell like watermelon and cheap perfume!

I'm a little late on getting in on this, but I've always admired these at Longwood Gardens, they have these lining one of the roads leading up to the greenhouses.

They do seed around heavily.
I saved one of the seedlings to grow as a foliage plant since I have no room for a full sized tree. If you cut them to the ground in spring they shoot up (and I really mean SHOOT up!) to around 15-20 feet in one season. The leaves reach about two feet across. Very cool.

This is a wisteria,one of my all time favorite plants. It is technically a vine not a tree but can be placed into the tree catagory. When first planted it needs supports until it gets large enough to stand on it''s own. The only wisteria which blooms from spring until fall is the Kentucky Bluemoon Wisteria. I have it in my yard. The oldest known wisteria is in China and is 250 years old. So large they have placed supports under it with lights. The largest known wisteria is in California it grows across several large buildings.Wisteria can grow up to 1 foot in a day. It grows 40 feet high and 60 feet wide if planted in the right place.You can also make a bonsai with it. The Wisteria Bonzai is one of the few plants that will still flower when growth is stunted. Here is a picture of it if you are interested in looking.

http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/651/390Bolusanthus_speciosus3.jpg

I have a degree in Horticulture so if anyone has other questions please feel free to ask.

The tree pictured is a Empress Tree ( my spelling could be off a little) I am looking into a tree on the Heifer International Ranch I'm volunteering at. It is a full grown tree about 30 ft tall spreads out 18 ft and has small star shaped little light blue flowers . Blooming now in May and has a full leaf with tooth edges and even paired on stem. have only two trees in 100 yard area. Need any input . I will see about getting picture , have exhausted, all areas to search in books and internet. Help

I agree with stimpy926 , Empress tree is invasive, and far from a wisteria.

tav68 you need to get your money back on your degree. That is in anyone book no a wisteria which I love best too. It is whatstimpy926 said in Bio. terms also known as a Empress Tree.