AILANTHUS GLANDULOSUS, DESF. 133 



SIMARUBACE.E. AILANTHUS FAMILY. 



Ailanthus glandulosus, Desf. 

 AILANTHUS. TREE-OF-HEAVEN. CHINESE SUMAC. 



Sparsely and locally naturalized in southern Ontario, New 

 England, and southward. 



A native of China ; first introduced into the United States 

 on an extensive scale in 1820 at Flushing, Long Island ; after- 

 wards disseminated by nursery plants and by seed distributed 

 from the Agricultural Department at Washington. Its rapid 

 growth, ability to withstand considerable variations in tempera- 

 ture, and its dark luxuriant foliage made it a great favorite 

 for shade and ornament. It was planted extensively in Phila- 

 delphia and New York, and generally throughout the eastern 

 sections of the country. When these trees began to fill the 

 ground with suckers and the vile-scented sterile flowers poi- 

 soned the balmy air of June and the water in the cisterns, 

 occasioning many distressing cases of nausea, a reaction set in 

 and hundreds of trees were cut down. The female trees, against 

 the blossoms of which no such objection lay, were allowed to 

 grow, and have often attained a height of 50-75 feet, with a 

 trunk diameter of 3-5 feet. The fruit is very beautiful, con- 

 sisting of profuse clusters of delicate pinkish or greenish 

 keys. 



The tree is easily distinguished by its ill-scented compound 

 leaves, often 2-3 feet long, by the numerous leaflets, sometimes 

 exceeding 40, each ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, with one or two 

 teeth near the base, by its vigorous growth from suckers, and 

 in winter by the coarse, blunt shoots and conspicuous, heart- 

 shaped leaf -scars. 



