SIMAROUBACEAE 



AlLANTHUS. TrEE-OF-HEAVEN 



Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle {Ailanthus 

 glandulosa Desf.) 



HABIT. A handsome naturalized tree 40-60 feet high and 

 2-4 feet in diameter; loose, open crown with very large leaves. 



LEAVES. Alternate; deciduous; n/2-4 feet long; pinnately 

 compound with 13-41 leaflets; leaflets ovate-lanceolate, 3-6 

 inches long, entire except for 1-2 glandular teeth at the base. 



FLOWERS. Regular; polygamo-dioecious; small; yellow- 

 green; in panicles; calyx 5-lobed; petals 5; staminate ill-smell- 

 ing; appearing after the leaves. 



FRUIT. Oblong, twisted samara l-lVi inches long with seed 

 in center; yellow-green; in crowded clusters. 



TWIGS. Very thick; velvety-downy; red-brown. Winter 

 buds: terminal absent, lateral small, subglobose, brown. 



BARK. Thin, gray, and smooth; becoming shallowly fur- 

 rowed with age. 



WOOD. Unimportant; soft; weak; pale yellow; ring-porous. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Intolerant; very fast-growing; 

 short-lived; hardy on sterile sites and in smoky cities; root- 

 suckers aggressively; a common city ornamental. 



MELIACEAE 



Chinaberry 



Melia azedarach L. 



This small Asiatic tree is commonly cultivated and naturalized 

 from North Carolina to Oklahoma and south. It is characterized 

 by alternate, bi-pinnately compound, tardily deciduous leaves 10-30 

 inches long with ovate, toothed or lobed, glabrous leaflets 1-2 inches 

 long; purple, showy flowers in loose panicles; and distinctive sub- 

 globose, yellow, fleshy drupes V2-% inch long. A low-spreading, flat- 

 topped variety known as the umbrella Chinaberry (var. umbraculifera 

 Sarg.) is popular. The West Indies mahogany, Swietenia mahagoni 

 Jacq., is native to southern Florida. 



* * * 



BURSERACEAE 



Elephanttree 



Bursera microphylla A. Gray 



This rarely becomes a small tree in the desert in southern California 

 and Arizona. It is characterized by alternate, deciduous, bi-pinnately 

 compound leaves with 20-40 leaflets |4 inch long; small, polygamous, 

 white flowers; and a red, capsule-like drupe 54 inch long. The fragrant 

 bursera, B. fagaroides Eng. is a similar form in southern Arizona. 

 Gumbo-limbo, B. simaruba Sarg., is native to southern Florida. 



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