[8], The pale yellow, close-grained and satiny wood of ailanthus has been used in cabinet work. a scar left on the twig after a leaf falls) with many bundle scars (i.e. Sugar Snap) and maize (Zea mays cv. After stopping and taking photos of this unknown (to me) plant, I was able to identify it as Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). : 'foul smelling tree'), is a deciduous tree in the family Simaroubaceae. The tree grows rapidly and is capable of reaching heights of 15 m (50 feet) in 25 years. A fast growing deciduous tree from China can grow 20m or more. Latin name: Ailanthus altissima Common name: Tree of Heaven. It contains a quinone irritant, 2,6-dimethoxybenzoquinone, as well as quassinoids. A.K.A. [8][12] The male flowers are similar in appearance, but they of course lack a pistil and the stamens do function, each being topped with a globular anther and a glandular green disc. [7][9] The sepals are cup-shaped, lobed and united while the petals are valvate (i.e. Swingle. Because the trees exhibit rapid growth for the first few years, the trunk has uneven texture between the inner and outer wood, which can cause the wood to twist or crack during drying. In London the specimens were named by Miller as Toxicodendron altissima and in Busbridge it was dubbed in the old classification system as Rhus Sinese foliis alatis. D'Incarville had sent seeds from Peking via Siberia to his botanist friend Bernard de Jussieu in the 1740s. Native to China, non-native in U.S. [22] In China it is native to every province except Gansu, Heilongjiang, Hainan, Jilin, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Tibet. For this reason, control measures on public lands[41] and private property[42] are advised where A. altissima has naturalized. Click on images of Tree of Heaven to enlarge. Within the oldest extant Chinese dictionary, the Erya, written in the 3rd century BC, the tree of heaven is mentioned second among a list of trees. “A medium to large tree to 25 m tall. Ailanthus altissima, commonly called tree of heaven, is native to China and was introduced into New York City in 1820 as a street tree and food source for silkworm caterpillars. [7][23] In the east of its range it grows most extensively in disturbed areas of cities, where it was long ago present as a planted street tree. [70], Ingo Vetter, a German artist and professor of fine arts at Umeå University in Sweden, was influenced by the idea of the "ghetto palm" and installed a living ailanthus tree taken from Detroit for an international art show called Shrinking Cities at the Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin in 2004. Ailanthus altissima Common name(s): Tree-of-Heaven The Tree-of-Heaven is native to northern China where it has a rich history dating back hundreds of years. Techniques have been developed for drying the wood so as to prevent this cracking, allowing it to be commercially harvested. : Certain sensitive individuals have found contact with plant parts to cause skin irritation and rashes. Leaves compound, imparipinnate, ca. It has smooth stems with pale gray bark, and twigs which are light chestnut brown, especially in the dormant season. [24] In Montenegro[28] and Albania[29][30] A. altissima is widespread in both rural and urban areas and while in the first it was introduced as an ornamental plant, it very soon invaded native ecosystems with disastrous results and became an invasive species. TOAL4: Toxicodendron altissimum Mill. [8] These are virtually found anywhere in the U.S., but especially in arid regions bordering the Great Plains, very wet regions in the southern Appalachians, cold areas of the lower Rocky Mountains and throughout much of the California Central Valley, forming dense thickets that displace native plants. [1] It is also unable to take dye. Scientific Name: Ailanthus altissima Common Name: Tree of heaven Growing Zone: USA: 5 to 8 Life Cycle / Plant Type: Tree Plant Details. [39], In northern Europe the tree of heaven was not considered naturalised in cities until after the Second World War. By 2008, the old tree was found to be dying and in danger of crashing into the building, which was about to undergo a major renovation. The pistil is made up of five free carpels (i.e. Scientific Name: Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) It involves the application of foliar or basal herbicides in order to kill existing trees, while either hand pulling or mowing seedlings in order to prevent new growth. The flowers are small, yello… Follow us on social media to keep up-to-date. Each leaflet is 5–18 cm (2-7 inches) long and 2.5–5 cm (1-2 inches) wide. [7], The earliest introductions of A. altissima to countries outside of its native range were to the southern areas of Korea and to Japan. Its production is particularly well known in the Yantai region of that province. Furthermore, the male plants emit a foul-smelling odor while flowering to attract pollinating insects. Synonyms: Toxicodendron altissimum Mill.;A. It can withstand cement dust and fumes from coal tar operations, as well as resist ozone exposure relatively well. They have lenticels as well as heart-shaped leaf scars (i.e. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. Populations without prior exposure to the chemicals are most susceptible to them. Restrict human access? In both Europe and America it quickly became a favoured ornamental, especially as a street tree, and by 1840 it was available in most nurseries. Although the live tree tends to have very flexible wood, the wood is quite hard once properly dried. It was formerly known under the scientific name Atteva punctella (see Taxonomy section). In 1751, Jussieu planted a few seeds in France and sent others on to Philip Miller, the superintendent at the Chelsea Physic Garden, and to Philip C. Webb, the owner of an exotic plant garden in Busbridge, England. There is also a selection, A. altissima f. erythrocarpa, that produces "bright red seeds". The tree had been spared by the sculptor Isamu Noguchi when in 1975 he bought the building which would become the museum and cleaned up its back lot. It has a smooth, grey bark with compound leaves which are alternate, odd-pinnate, with 11-25 lanceolate leaflets. Each leaflet has one to three teeth on each side, close to the base. [15] The females can produce huge amounts of seeds, normally around 30,000 per kilogram (14,000/lb) of tree,[7] and fecundity can be estimated non-destructively through measurements of dbh.[14]. Freely suckers from roots forming thickets.” Occurs in a broad range of vegetative communities including riparian areas, artificial waterways and urban areas. (ailanthus) genus and Simaroubaceae (Quassia family). Common Name: tree-of-Heaven, tree-that-grows-in-Brooklyn. It was mentioned in the oldest extant Chinese dictionary and listed in many Chinese medical texts for its purported curative ability. 30-50 cm long; petiolules ca. [20], In North America, the leaves of ailanthus are sometimes attacked by Aculops ailanthii, a mite in the family Eriophyidae. It is also rare in Ireland. [24] In addition, the warmer microclimate in cities offers a more suitable habitat than the surrounding rural areas (it is thought that the tree requires a mean annual temperature of 8 degrees Celsius to grow well, which limits its spread in more northern and higher altitude areas). Their styles are united and slender with star-shaped stigmas. In North America the tree is the host plant for the ailanthus webworm (Atteva aurea), though this ermine moth is native to Central and South America and originally used other members of the mostly tropical Simaroubaceae as its hosts. It is drought-hardy, but not tolerant of flooding. [49], The tree of heaven is a very rapidly growing tree, possibly the fastest growing tree in North America. [8][16] The tree was separately brought to California in the 1890s by Chinese immigrants who came during the California Gold Rush. It was mentioned again in a materia medica compiled during the Tang dynasty in 656 AD. Each work favoured a different character, however, and there is still some debate in the Chinese botanical commun… Leaves infested by the mite begin to curl and become glossy, reducing their ability to function. [1][7] It is considered a shade-intolerant tree and cannot compete in low-light situations,[43] though it is sometimes found competing with hardwoods, but such competition rather indicates it was present at the time the stand was established. People living near the lower Yellow River know it by the name chunshu (simplified Chinese: 椿树; traditional Chinese: 椿樹; pinyin: chūnshù), meaning "spring tree". U.S. Forest Service Fire Effects Information System: National Invasive Species Information Center: species profile of, United States National Agricultural Library, National Park Service, Plant Conservation Alliance, Alien Plant Working Group: Tree of Heaven (, Cal-IPC/California Invasive Plant Council: plant profile of, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ailanthus_altissima&oldid=990525161, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Chinese-language text, Articles containing simplified Chinese-language text, Articles containing traditional Chinese-language text, Taxonbars with automatically added basionyms, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 24 November 2020, at 23:54. [68][69], Until March 26, 2008, a 60-foot (18 m)-tall member of the species was a prominent "centerpiece" of the sculpture garden at the Noguchi Museum in the Astoria section in the borough of Queens in New York City. [1] In many countries, it is an invasive species due to its ability both to colonize disturbed areas quickly and to suppress competition with allelopathic chemicals. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database. Around the corner, business was brisk at a drug house where residents and customers alike weren’t above casually taking a piss in the driveway. [35] Similarly, another study conducted in southwestern Virginia determined that the tree of heaven is thriving along approximately 30% of the state's interstate highway system length or mileage. [8] The current species name comes from Walter T. Swingle who was employed by the United States Department of Plant Industry. Native of China, introduced into North America in 1784 as an ornamental. All have some positive and negative aspects, but the most effective regimen is generally a mixture of chemical and physical control. Ailanthus glandulosus Desf. Unlike other members of the genus Ailanthus, it is found in temperate climates rather than the tropics. There are three varieties of A. altissima: A. altissima is native to northern and central China,[1] Taiwan[23] and northern Korea. The name is in reference to the great heights of the tree (helped by a very robust grow rate). It is extremely fast-growing and it will grow almost anywhere. [17] Altissima is Latin for "tallest",[18] and refers to the sizes the tree can reach. takanai. It spreads aggressively both by seeds and vegetatively by root sprouts, re-sprouting rapidly after being cut. [7] Ailanthus is among the most pollution-tolerant of tree species, including sulfur dioxide, which it absorbs in its leaves. [6] The seeds borne on the female trees are 5 mm in diameter and each is encapsulated in a samara that is 2.5 cm (0.98 in) long and 1 cm (0.39 in) broad, appearing July though August, but can persist on the tree until the next spring. It has escaped cultivation in all areas where it was introduced, but most extensively in the United States. [8], Confusion in naming began when the tree was described by all three men with three different names. Therefore, this species has been proposed as a possible biocontrol for ailanthus in the Americas. It grows lushly...survives without sun, water, and seemingly earth. The name stems from the fact that A. altissima is one of the last trees to come out of dormancy, and as such its leaves coming out would indicate that winter was truly over. https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/ailalt/all.html Swingle ( ITIS) Common Name: Tree-of-heaven, China-sumac, varnishtree. [9] The lobed bases and glands distinguish it from similar sumac species. The ailanthus webworm (Atteva aurea) is an ermine moth now found commonly in the United States. [47] Another experiment showed a water extract of the chemical was either lethal or highly damaging to 11 North American hardwoods and 34 conifers, with the white ash (Fraxinus americana) being the only plant not adversely affected. [1] The noxious odours have been associated with nausea and headaches, and with contact dermatitis reported in both humans and sheep, which developed weakness and paralysis. Furthermore, one can scold a child by calling him a "good-for-nothing ailanthus stump sprout", meaning the child is irresponsible. Silver Queen). The petioles are 5–12 mm (0.2-0.5 inch) long. This type of silk is known under various names: "pongee", "eri silk" and "Shantung silk", the last name being derived from Shandong Province in China where this silk is often produced. Means of eradication can be physical, thermal, managerial, biological or chemical. 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