THE AILAtfTUS. 347 



into the United States in the early part of this century, 

 and is now very common in almost all the States as a 

 wayside tree. It possesses a great deal of beauty, being 

 surpassed by very few trees in the size and graceful sweep 

 of its large compound leaves, that retain their brightness 

 and their verdure after midsummer, when our native trees 

 have become dull and tarnished. 



The leaves of the Ailantus are pinnate, containing from 

 nine to eleven leaflets, each of these being as large as the 

 leaf of the beech-tree. It has a great superficial re- 

 semblance to the velvet sumach, both in its foliage and 

 ramification, so that on first sight one might easily be 

 mistaken for the other; for its branches, though more 

 elegant, have the same peculiar twist that gives the spray 

 of the sumach the appearance of a stag's horn. The 

 flowers are greenish, inconspicuous, and in upright pan- 

 icles, resembling those of the poison sumach. They emit 

 a very disagreeable odor while the flowers are in perfec- 

 tion, impregnating the air for a week or more. 



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