Genus AILANTUS, Desf. 



Xanthoxylaceae 

 Syst. Nat. 



Ailantus, Ailanthus, Rhus, 



Monoecia Polygamia. 

 Syst. Lin. 



Synonymes. 



Aylante, Aylanthe, Verne du Japon, An- 



gik, Angika, Langit, 

 Giitterbaum, 

 Ailanto, 



Tong-yen-tsao, Tchean-theum, 

 Ailanto, Ailantus, 



Of Authors. 



France. 



Germany. 



Italy and Molucca Islands 



China. 



Britain and Anglo-America. 



Derivations. The word Ailantus (sometimes improperly written Ailanthus) was given to this genus by Desfontaines, wno 

 ormed it from the Molucca name, ailanto. For a long time this tree was considered as a species of rhus, whence the French 

 name, Verne. Angik or Angika, it is said, signifies the Tree of Heaven ; hence the German name, Gutterbaum, Tree of this 

 Gods. 



Generic Characters. Male Flowtr. Calyx, 1-leafed, 5-parted, very small. Corolla, 5-petals, acute, 

 convolute at the base. Stamina, filaments 10, compressed, the length of the corolla. Fejiale Flow- 

 er. Calyx, as in the male. Pistils, germs 3 5. Styles lateral. Capsules compressed. Seeds 

 solitary, and lens-shaped. Bisexual flowers as in the above. 



!ONG before this genus was rightly named and its characters well 

 understood, one of its species was cultivated in the gardens of 

 Europe and America, and was thought to be a kind of sumach ; 

 but as the tree, in general, bore only male flowers, much doubt 

 and many conjectures were entertained, until it was accurately 

 described by Desfontaines, in 1786. There are several species in 

 this genus, all natives of China, India, or the adjacent islands, but none are 

 very hardy except the Ailantus glandulosa, indigenous to the northern prov- 

 inces of China, and cultivated as an ornamental tree in nearly every countrv 

 of the civilized globe. 



