Time Frame

• Empress trees flower and produce seeds by the time they are 8 to 10 years old. The speedy growth of these trees causes the mature empress trees to develop a weak trunk. It is rare for the empress tree to live beyond 70 years.
  
  

Considerations

• Empress trees have been known to grow to almost 45 feet tall in a little more than 10 years when planted in good soil. The trees are ready for timber harvest in 15 years. Empress trees survive and grow in poor soil, including areas that have been strip mined and arid disturbed places.
  
  

Warning

• Empress trees can be considered invasive since they grow in any place the seeds land. This includes disturbed areas, forests, stream banks and steep slopes. A single empress tree produces more than 2 million seeds.