226 ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALABAMA 



leaves and fruits are l)itter and tonic, and used in some places in 



domestic medicine, but they are not officinal. 



Grows on cliffs, river-banks, and in dry calcareous w(Jods, 



protected from fire ; not common. Sometimes associated with 



StapJiylca frifolia, which it somewhat resembles. 



2B. Cliffs on Hurricane Creek, and on Warrior River about ten miles 

 above Tuscaloosa (like the preceding species). 



3. Limestone hills near Attalla and Lagarde, Etowah County. Bibb 

 County (Mohr). 



4. Rocky brow of Cedar Mountain, Clay County. 



5. Clay and Tallapoosa Counties (Earle). Rocky banks of Tallapoosa 

 River above Tallassee, Elmore County. 



6C or 7. House Bluff, Autauga County. 



7. Along Catoma Creek, Montgomery County. Dallas County ("30 

 feet tall," Cocks). 



low. Along Pursley Creek near Estelle, Wilcox County. Bluffs 

 along Alabama River at Lisbon, Clarke County (Mohr), and Claiborne, 

 Monroe County. 



Ptclca microcarpa. Small, is credited to Alabama by its author, but the 

 Alabama specimens he saw cannot be separated from P. trifoliata. 



SIMARUBACEAE. Quassia Family. 



About 30 genera and 150 S2:)ecies, trees and shrubs with bitter 

 bark, in the warmer parts of the world. 



AILANTHUS, Desfontaines. 



Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle. (A. gland ulosits, Desf.) 



(Tree of Heaven.) 



A stout but more or less crooked tree, with long pinnate de- 

 ciduous leaves and clusters of small greenish ill-scented flowers, 

 in May. Often cultivated for shade, but has nothing to recom- 

 mend it except rapid growth, for it is a coarse, cheap-looking tree, 

 and the ill-scented flowers make it a nuisance for a few weeks 

 every spring. It is said to be only the male flowers that smell, 

 though, and if only female trees were planted that objection would 

 be removed. 



Native of China. Escapes from cultivation around some of 

 our cities and towns, in much the same manner as Broiissoiictia, 

 already described, but much less abundant than that species. (It 

 seems to be commoner farther north, even around New York 

 City.) In low woods near Bear Swamp in Autauga County it 

 grows tall and straight like a native forest tree. 



