Note:
(a)
(i) Print has four photographs and the online version, 10. The text are the same in both, except where is noted next.
(ii) At the bottom of the online photo essay is "(Updated first paragraph to correct company age [from 15 in print to 17 online] and second paragraph to clarify that the farmed trees are non-invasive.)"
The second paragraph in the online version add one sentence ("Farmers are using non-invasive varieties of the tree, which is otherwise known as a pest in some parts of the world") right before "Once the trees reach maturity" which starts paragraph 2 in print.
(b)
(i) The empress tree is
Paulownia tomentosa 毛泡桐 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia_tomentosa
(deciduous; is native to central and western China; section 1 Etymology
(A) Latin-English dictionary:
* tomentosus (adjective masculine; feminive: tomentosa): "having a mass of rough hairs/ Usage notes: Used almost exclusively as a taxonomic epithet" https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tomentosus#Latin
Its noun counterpart is noun neuter tomentum, which in botany and entomology means a mass of hairs.
(B) What part of this species is hairy?
From two sources in the Web: "Ovate, green leaves (to 5-12" long [its leaves are huge; you can't miss it; I saw it once in Boston and wondered what it was) are lightly hairy above and densely hairy beneath."
(C) The en.wikipedia.org for Paulownia tomentosa has a paragraph about Japaese culture on the tree. It is all true; the source of a phoenix perches only on this tree is fro, Ancient China, however, not indigenous in Japan.
This species is simply called 桐 in Japan, whose (Japanese) pronunciation is kiri キリ.
my translation: native to China; good timber since ancient times; the lightest timber; the second highest crest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crest_(heraldry)
after emperor's Chrysanthemum crest. (Chrysanthemum is genus name. 五七桐花紋 shows one stem with seven flowers, flanked on each side with one stem of five flowers.) See inflorescence 花序 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflorescence
In Japan 紋 has Chinese pronunciation of "mon," which is what the top of Wiki page for crest is about.
(D) 桐紋 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/桐紋
("室町幕府では小判などの貨幣に刻印された。これ以来、室町幕府のほか皇室や豊臣政権など様々な政権が用いており、現在では日本国政府の紋章として用いられている"/ section 1 図案: "花と葉をつけた桐の枝先3本の直立する花序と3枚の葉から構成されているものが基本的図案である。花序につく花の数が3-5-3の五三桐が一般的で、花序につく花の数が5-7-5となっているものは五七桐 * * * 古代中国で「鳳凰が棲む」という謂れのある桐とは、アオギリ（梧桐）である。日本で桐紋が使われるのはこの伝承に倣ったものだが、桐紋としてデザインされているのは別種のキリ（白桐）である
my translation: Muromachi shogunate inscribed 桐紋 on its smaller gold currency [a larger size carried more value]. Ever since, the royalties and various regimes, including Toyotomi's, uses 桐紋 as crests -- which the present day serves as national crest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Seal_of_Japan
The basic design 図案 is composed of 3 leaves and 3 upright stems of flowers. Flower numbers in 3-5-3 is generic, whereas those in 5-7-5 are for top rulers punder the emperor]. * * * In ancient China, the tree phoenix perches was 梧桐 [Firmiana simplex; 又名青桐 [that is kanji representation of アオギリ]; 它和同名为 '桐' 的油桐（大戟科）、泡桐（泡桐科）、法国梧桐（悬铃木科）没有亲缘关系: zh.wikipedia.org for 梧桐]. That is the reason why 桐紋 was used [in Japan], though 桐紋 in Japan is from 白桐 [pronunciation: shirogiri; biology: Scrophulariaceae].
(ii) Anna Pavlovna of Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Pavlovna_of_Russia
(1795-1865; daughter of Paul [Russian: Pavel] I of Russia; in 1816 married the Prince of Orange, who would later become King William II of the Netherlands)
Her surname became spelled Paulowna in the Netherlands.
(A) "House of Romanov was the reigning royal house of Russia from 1613 to 1917." en.wikipedia.org for the House. It started when Zemsky Sobor (Russian: literally assembly of the land; which was Russian parliament) elected Michael Romanov as Michael I.
(B) Paul I was son of Catherine the Great or Catherine II.
The relationship between Peter the Great, or Peter I (1672 – 1725) and Paul I (or Catherine II) is complicated. See
Life After Peter. SSQQ Travel (a travel club), undated. http://www.ssqq.com/travel/russia2012xlifeafterpeter.htm
(C) There were, in the House of Romanov, quite a few other princesses named Anna Pavlovna. Pavlovna os the middle name, not last name, which is Romanov.
(D) As a Russian surname, son and daughter of Pavel is surnamed Pavlov and Pavlova, respectively. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlov_(surname)
(E) Understanding Russian Names in Literature. Emporia State University, undated https://www.emporia.edu/~bartruff/docs/RussiaNames.pdf
("Traditional Russian names come in three parts. These are the given name, patronymic, and family name [examples: Fyodor = Theodore; Lev as Slavic given name means Lion = Leo or Leon in English naming]. * * * What's a patronymic? For men and women, it's a middle name based on the name of the father. Every Russian has one. So Anna Pavlovna is Anna, the daughter of Pavel. Chekhov was Anton Pavlovich. First name and patronymic are the normal mode of address between people who know each other but aren't intimate friends or close relatives")
The vowel underlined signals where the accent lies.
Emporia State University (1963- ; public; in Emporia, Kansas) en.wikipedia.org. (The English noun emporium -- meaning trading post -- is from Ancient Greek, through Latin of the same spelling. In English the plural form of emporium can be either emporiums (according to English rule) or emporia (per Latin rule). )
Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: Banks, fintechs, and peer-to-peer lenders are aggressively courting cash-strapped young consumers
(b) Print and the online version are the same.