Its giant pinnate leaves, alternate on the twig, have one or two glandular teeth at the base of each leaflet
Tree of heaven. Ash leaves are opposite and lack such teeth.
Nature · Trees
Tree of heaven
Neophyte (in cultivation 1751) · deciduous to 25 m · city waste ground, railways and pavements
Ailanthus altissima — Simaroubaceae
A fast-growing Chinese tree brought into British cultivation in the 18th century, which has spread by suckers and winged seeds into the cracks of cities, railway sidings and derelict ground. It is one of the few trees on this list that is officially treated as invasive: the GB Non-native Species Secretariat lists it as a species of special concern.
How to know it
How to spot them
- ▸Enormous pinnate leaves, up to about a metre long, with 10 to 40 leaflets, each with one or two glandular teeth near the base
- ▸Leaves are alternate on the twig and smell unpleasant when crushed
- ▸Bunches of winged, reddish-tan seeds (samaras) on female trees in late summer
- ▸Smooth, pale grey bark with fine pale fissures; stout twigs with a big heart-shaped leaf scar
- ▸Suckers freely, forming thickets
- ▸Look-alikes: ash has opposite leaves with untoothed leaflets and black buds; staghorn sumac has toothed leaflets and velvety twigs. Tree of heaven has alternate leaves and glandular teeth at the leaflet base.
How to know it
A Chinese tree that colonises cracks in pavements and railway land by suckering and winged seeds
Tree of heaven.
Introduced into British cultivation in 1751, it was not recorded in the wild until 1935
Tree of heaven (GB Non-native Species Secretariat).
It is on the EU list of Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern in Northern Ireland and is a GB species of special concern
Tree of heaven (RHS).
Contact with its sap can cause dermatitis, and the crushed leaves smell rank
Tree of heaven.
The tree in Betty Smith's novel set in a Brooklyn tenement is this species
Tree of heaven. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943).
Quick-fire facts
- •Ailanthus altissima — altissima means tallest; the name Ailanthus comes from a Moluccan word usually rendered as tree of heaven
- •Family Simaroubaceae, native to China
- •RHS: on the GB Non-native Species Secretariat list of species of special concern and the EU list of Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern (which applies in Northern Ireland)
- •Introduced into cultivation in Britain in 1751; not recorded in the wild until 1935 (GB Non-native Species Secretariat)
- •Dense stands exclude native vegetation, and the tree is toxic; sap contact can produce dermatitis
- •Roots sucker aggressively and can damage foundations and paving
- •Common in London, especially on railway land and waste ground
- •It is the tree in the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Drill it — 7 cards
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Sources
- RHS — Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
- GB Non-native Species Secretariat — Tree-of-Heaven, Ailanthus altissima