This striking "mystery plant" sprouted every year at Steinert's Restaurant in Republic, Missouri. Audra, the young lady in the photo, said she'd heard it identified as an "Emperor Tree." Then Sharon Weis in Bluemont, Virginia, emailed us that its correct name is "the Empress Tree," species name Paulownia tomentosa, which has huge juvenile leaves that grow smaller as they mature. We're wondering, though, if the plant might not be Catalpa.