#medium trees

aka. princess tree, empress tree. foxglove-tree

Native to central + eastern China and Korean peninsula, grows extremely fast and is invasive in North America and Europe, also growing in South Africa, New Zealand and Japan. Grows up to 25m tall, flowers are violet-blue and appear in early spring. In Japan, its common to plant this tree when a couple has a daughter, at the age of the child's adulthood the tree will also reach maturity, and its then felled to a tansu dresser as a wedding gift. The name Paulownia is in honour of Queen Anna Pavlovna (which is where 'princess / empress tree came from), and tomentosa means 'covered in hairs'.

aka. Colorata Mayday

A purple-leaved cultivar of Prunus padus and is toxic just like it. Has dark-green leaves with purple veining, deep pink flowers, and purple twigs/shoots. The name Prunus means "plum" in Latin and padus is the name of a "wild cherry" in Greek, colorata means "colored"

Cultivar of honey locust with no thorns that grows up to 15m (smaller than the species), has golden yellow foliage in spring which goes to a bright lemon green color in summer. Flowers in late spring and has great adaptability. Gleditsa is named after the German botanist Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, and triacanthos means 'three thorns' in Greek

aka. honey locust, thorny locust, thorny honeylocust, honey shucks locust, sweet bean tree, sweet locust, thorny locust, green locust tree

Native to central North America, growing in river valleys with moist soil, introduced worldwide for its adaptability, but can be an invasive damaging species outside of its natural range. Grows extremely fast, up to 20-30m and flowers in spring. Fruits are a type of legume with edible pulp (used as food and medicinal plant by Native Americans, also used to make tea) that matures in early autumn.

Has cultivars like 'Beatrice', 'Continental', 'Elegantissima', 'Emerald Kascade', 'Imperial', 'Shademaster', 'Skyline' and 'Sunburst'. Gleditsa is named after the German botanist Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, and triacanthos means 'three thorns' in Greek

aka. golden American oak, red oak 'gold'

Yellow leaved cultivar of the Northern red oak, growing up to 15m (much shorter than the species), leaves are 12-22cm long, in specific conditions it turns orange-red to scarlet in autumn. When young, the leaves are bright yellow but turns green in midsummer. Flowering happens in May and is resistant to frost and wind. In Latin, Quercus means 'oak', rubra means 'red' and aurea means 'golden'

Hybrid between A. flava and A. neglecta (or A. sylvatica - disputed, according to IDS), has a clone (/cultivar?) 'Erytroblastos', its also toxic. Native range is said to be the Southeast of United States (according to POWO). Aesculus comes probably from the Proto-Indo-European word for 'oak', and neglecta (strangely) means "neglected"

aka. Prunus 'Kanzan', Kwanzan/Sekiyama, 関山

A Japanese cherry (Prunus serrulata) cultivar, developed in Edo period in Japan, grows 1-9 meters with 8m spread with deep pink flower petals, extremely popular for its size and for handling well cold. Prunus means 'plum' in Latin, the name serrulata means "sawn" (to pieces), and 関山 combines 関 ('gate') with 山 ('mountain")

aka. Japanese cherry

A cherry tree that grows on various regions of South to East Asia, including the North of Australia. Flowering in spring, with pink flowers, has a tree spirit called Kurozome. The name serrulata means "sawn" (to pieces) in Latin, and Prunus means 'plum'. Has many cultivars like 'Kanzan', 'Beni-yukata', 'Chosu-hizakura', 'Eigenji', "Fugenzo', 'Gyoiko', 'Hanagasa', 'Ichiyo', 'Sendaiya', 'Shirayuki', 'Shirotae', 'Shogetsu', 'Taihaku', 'Taoyame' and 'Ukon'