AILANTHUS FAMILY 



the sunlioht and you will have a bouquet with a r Avv scheme 



rarelv equalled. 



I'he uiaUire leaf is often three feet long, with many pairs of 



Icallets, and one leaflet at the end. Normally, there should 

 be a terminal leaflet, actually, it is often 

 wanting ; this, too, is common in pinnately 

 compound leaves; the Black Walnut and the 

 Butternut are often evenly, instead of oddly, 

 pinnate ; the terminal leaflet aborts. 



The voung Ailanthusand the Sumach may 

 easilv be mistaken for each other, but a mo- 

 ment's careful observation is sufficient to 

 mark the difference between them. Tiie 

 growing shoot and last year's wood of the 

 Sumach are velvety, while those of the Ail- 

 anthus ai'e smooth. The margin of the 

 .\ilanthns leaflet is entire save a tooth or 

 two at the base, the Sumach leaflet is ser- 

 rate all along' the margin. The under side 

 of the Sumach leaflet is whitish, the Ailau- 

 thus pale green. lUit autumn tells the story 

 lJ7y ' unrnist.d^ablv, the .\ilantluis leaf either turns 



a lemon vellow throughout its length or drops 

 unchanged, the Sumach glows in scarlet and 

 orange ere it parts from the parent stem. 

 The .\ilantluis is short-lived ; the trimk 



soon becomes hollow, and a tree two and a half or three feet 



in diameter, having ever)' appearance of health and vigor, 

 will go down before a strong wind only to disclose the fact 



that it was simply a shell. 



An Ailanthus and a 

 Sum:ii:h Leaflet. 



-)0 



