202 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



nigh, and as the foliage is dark green on the upper side, and 

 downy white beneath, it presents an effect greatly resem- 

 bling that of the Silver poplar in a slight breeze. Abroad, 

 the timber is considered valuable ; but here it is chiefly 

 planted to produce a pleasing variety among other trees, by 

 Us peculiar foliage, and scarlet autumnal fruit. 



All the foregoing trees grow naturally in the highest, 

 most exposed, and often almost barren situations. When, 

 however, a rapid growth is desired, they should be planted 

 in a more moist and genial soil. They are easily propagated 

 from the seed, and some of the sorts may be grafted on the 

 pear or hawthorn. The seeds, in all cases, should be sown 

 in autumn. 



THE AILANTUS TREE. Ailantus. 



Nat. Ord. XanthoxylaceiE. Lin. Syst. Polygamia, Moncecia. 



Ailanto is the name of this tree in the Moluccas, and is 

 said to signify Tree of Heaven ; an appellation probably 

 bestowed on account of the rapidity of its growth, and the 

 great height which it reaches in the East Indies, its native 

 country. When quite young it is not unlike a sumac in 

 appearance ; but the exireme rapidity of its growth and the 

 great size of its pinnated leaves, four or five feet long, soon 

 distinguish it from that shrub. During the first half dozen 

 years it outstrips almost any other deciduous tree in vigor 

 of growth, and we have measured leading stems which had 

 grown twelve or fifteen feet in a single season. In four or 

 five years, therefore, it forms quite a bulky head, but after 

 that, period it advances more slowly, and in 20 years would 

 probably be overtopped by the poplar, the plane, or any 

 other fast growing tree. There are, as yet, no specimens 



