the.com/tree of heaven
A tree named for paradise that behaves like it escaped from the other place.
means A fast-growing, foul-smelling invasive tree (Ailanthus altissima) that sprouts aggressively in cracks, lots, and railways, crowding out native plants almost anywhere its seeds land.
from The name translates an Indonesian/Moluccan term (via the species' Ambonese name 'ailanto,' roughly 'tree reaching the sky') recorded by a European botanist describing a tall local tree — later applied to the related Chinese species Ailanthus altissima. The 'heaven' in the name is about height and reach, not virtue; the tree's garden-escape, weed-of-waste-ground reputation came later, once it proved impossible to evict.
- actual origin
- native to China, not heaven
- smell test
- crushed leaves reek of rancid peanut butter
- growth rate
- up to 15 feet in one year
- ecological role
- preferred host of the invasive spotted lanternfly