Genus AILANTUS, Deaf. 
Xanthoxylaceae 
Syst. Nat. 
Ailantus, Ailanthus, Rhus, 
Monoecia Polygamia. 
Syst. Lin. 
Synonymes. 
Aylante, Aylanthe, Verne du Japon, An- 
gik, Angika, Langit, 
Gotterbaum, 
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, Gotterbaum, Tree of the 
Gods. 
Generic Characters. Male Flower. Calyx, 1-leafed, 5-parted, very small. Corolla, 5-petals, acute, 
convolute at the base. Stamina, filaments 10, compressed, the length of the corolla. Female 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 country 
of the civilized globe. 
