THE AILANTHUS 



THE Ailanthus, or Tree of Heaven, has been quite extensively planted in parks 

 and private grounds throughout the Eastern States. It is a distinctive tree 

 which grows very rapidly, and has extraordinarily long compound leaves that 

 often reach a length of three feet. Even the leaflets are commonly five inches long, and 

 have the basal part of the margins coarsely toothed while the terminal part is entire. 

 Each tooth bears at its point on the lower surface a curious gland. The leaves retain their 

 green hue quite late in autumn. When they fall they reveal branches of a very character- 

 istic size and form. The young shoots are very large and have leaf-scars which are also of 

 an unusual size. These leaf-scars are irregularly shield-shaped and have a grayish surface. 

 The broad, rounded buds have the reddish or brownish scales covered with whitish down. 



The Ailanthus comes into flower in June, the pollen-bearing and the seed-bearing 

 blossoms developing on different trees. The former have an intensely disagreeable odor, 

 which has led people very generally to cut down the trees bearing them, while trees bearing 

 the latter, which are practically odorless, have been allowed to grow. As will be seen from 

 the two sprays lying along the leaf in the picture the right-hand one being the pollen- 

 bearing, the left-hand one the seed-bearing the two kinds of flowers bear a general 

 resemblance to each other and develop in sparse panicles which are quite characteristic. 

 The pollen-bearing panicles drop off after blossoming, while the seed-bearing ones gradually 

 mature into the curiously interesting and beautiful winged fruits, the presence of which 

 give to the tree in autumn one of its most attractive features. These fruits are illustrated 

 in the upper left-hand corner of the plate and have near their middle an enlarged part 

 which holds the seeds. These fruits are admirably adapted to dispersal by the wind, and 

 have led to the spontaneous appearance of the Ailanthus in many parts of the East and 

 South. 



This tree is a native of China and is sometimes called the Chinese Sumach. It 

 seems to have been first planted in America in 1820 on Long Island, and many of the trees 

 planted early have reached a height of sixty or seventy feet and a trunk diameter of four 

 or five feet. Its chief disadvantages for ornamental planting, in addition to that of the 

 vile-smelling blossoms, are its tendency to sucker and to penetrate wells and cisterns with 

 its roots which give the water a nauseating taste. 



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