SIMARUBACEAE 
Ailanthus. Tree of Heaven 
Ailanthus glandulosa Desf. 
HABIT.—A handsome, rapid-growing, short-lived tree, at- 
taining a height of 50-70 feet and a trunk diameter of 2-4 feet, 
with a spreading, rather loose and open crown and a coarse, blunt 
spray. 
'LEAVES.—Alternate, pinnately compound, 1-3 feet long. 
Leaflets 11-41 in number, 2-6 inches long and about one-third as 
broad; ovate-lanceolate; entire with the exception of two or 
more coarse, glandular teeth at the base; glabrous, dark green 
above, paler beneath, turning a clear yellow in autumn or falling 
without change; ill-scented. Petioles smooth, terete, swollen at 
the base. 
FLOWERS.—June, when the leaves are full grown; poly- 
gamo-dioecious; small, yellow-green, borne in upright panicles 
6-12 inches or more in length; calyx 5-lobed; petals 5, greenish, 
hairy; stamens ro. Staminate flowers ill-scented, pistillate almost 
free from odor. 
FRUIT.—October; 1-celled, 1-seeded samaras, spirally 
twisted, reddish or yellow-green, borne in crowded clusters. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud absent; lateral buds about 
¥% inch long, subglobose, brownish, downy. 
BARK.—tTwigs yellowish to red-brown, velvety-downy; 
thin, grayish and shallowly fissured on old trunks. 
WOOD.—Soft, weak, of coarse and open grain, pale yellow, 
satiny, with thick, lighter colored sapwood. 
NOTES.—A native of China, but naturalized in the United 
States and planted frequently in southern Michigan as a foliage 
tree. Only the pistillate trees should be planted, as these are 
almost free from the objectionable odor of the staminate trees. 
The smoke and dust of our large cities have little effect on the 
foliage, and the trees are perfectly hardy in the southern part 
of the state. 
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