There are lots of these trees along the creeks and streams here where I hike, I'd like to know what kind of tree it is and what exactly do you call the "parts" of it (pref. also in laymans terms if possible) Thank you.
Hello Mistwalker Looks like the flowers and seed pods of an empress tree Paulownia here is a link and compare with the photos here http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/pato11.htm
Wow, it sure looks like it. Thank you! Are these trees indiginous to the southeast U.S. ? A lot of things have been brought here over time.
Weed? The ones I was taking pictures of were seven or eight meters tall..., one heck of a weed...guess that gives me a new perspective on the term. I didn't think they used to be here...or at least not this many when I was a kid. They imported cudzu here as an erosion controll..., were these brought for the same reason? They are mostly on the side of the mountain in a creek gorge.
There is a whole rogue's gallery of common eastern North American weeds originating in Asia that started on this continent planted as ornamentals and went wild in the region. Kudzu is not the only one that dominates entire sites. There are also terrible infestations of Japanese honeysuckle, one or two species of buckthorn, Norway maple and others.
I am familiar with the cudzu, and also with the Amur Honeysuckle "trees"...., lots of those here but luckily none of the Japanese Honeysuckle vines...they take over and make for lots of yard work. I'll have to look into the Norway Maple and Buckthorn.