Ailanthus

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids II
Ordo: Sapindales

Familia: Simaroubaceae
Genus: Ailanthus
Species: A. altissima – A. excelsa – A. fordii – A. integrifolia – A. triphysa – A. vietnamensis
Name

Ailanthus Desf., Hist. Acad. Roy. Sci. Mém. Math. Phys. (Paris, 4°) (1786) (Mém.): 265 (1788), nom. cons. over Pongelion Adans., Fam. Pl. 2: 319 (1763).

Type species: Ailanthus glandulosus Desf. (1788) (= Ailanthus altissimus (Mill.) Swingle, J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 6: 495 (1916).)

Note: Gender: masculine (as all genera ending in "-anthus", vide ICN Art. 62.2(c)) (IPNI, 2021), but species epithets conventionally use the feminine and should be auto-corrected as IPNI, GRIN and Tropicos (2021).
Synonyms

Heterotypic
Pongelion Adans., Fam. Pl. (Adanson) 2: 319 (1763).
Hebonga Radlk., Philipp. J. Sci., C 6: 365 (1912).

References
Primary references

Desfontaines, R.L. 1788. Histoire de l'Academie Royale des Sciences (Paris, 4°) 1786 (Mém.): 265.

Additional references

Ailanthus in Flora of China

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Ailanthus in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jan. 30. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2021. Ailanthus. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2021. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jan. 30. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2021. Ailanthus. Published online. Accessed: Jan. 30 2021.
Tropicos.org 2021. Ailanthus. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jan. 30.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Ailanthus in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 08-Apr-12.

Vernacular names
dansk: Skyrækker-slægten
Deutsch: Götterbäume
English: Tree of Heaven
Esperanto: Ailanto
suomi: Jumaltenpuut
русский: Айлант
українська: Айлант

Ailanthus Brit./eɪˈlanθəs/, U.S. /eɪˈlænθəs/,[1] (/əˈlænθəs/;[2] derived from ailanto, an Ambonese word probably meaning "tree of the gods" or "tree of heaven")[3] is a genus of trees belonging to the family Simaroubaceae, in the order Sapindales (formerly Rutales or Geraniales). The genus is native from east Asia south to northern Australasia.

Selected species
Ailanthus altissima, male flowers

The number of living species is disputed, with some authorities accepting up to ten species, while others accept six or fewer. Species include:

Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle (tree of heaven, syn. A. vilmoriniana Dode[4]) – northern and central mainland China, Taiwan. Invasive in North America, Europe, Britain, and Australia.[5][6] Serves as central metaphor in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. – India and Sri Lanka
Ailanthus fordii Noot. – China
Ailanthus integrifolia Lam. – New Guinea and Queensland, Australia
Ailanthus triphysa (Dennst.) Alston (white siris syn. A. malabarica[7]) – India, South-east Asia and Australia
Ailanthus vietnamensis H.V.Sam & Noot. – Vietnam

There is a good fossil record of Ailanthus with many species names based on their geographic occurrence, but almost all of these have very similar morphology and have been grouped as a single species among the three species recognized:[8]

Ailanthus tardensis Hably – from a single locality in Hungary
Ailanthus confucii Unger – Tertiary period, Europe, Asia, and North America
Ailanthus gigas Unger – from a single locality in Slovenia
Ailanthus pythii Unger – known from the Miocene of Iceland, Styria in Austria and the Gavdos island in Greece
Ailanthus kurzii Prain - endemic to the Andaman Islands, India

Ailanthus silk moth

A silk spinning moth, the ailanthus silkmoth (Samia cynthia), lives on Ailanthus leaves, and yields a silk more durable and cheaper than mulberry silk, but inferior to it in fineness and gloss. This moth has been introduced to the eastern United States and is common near many towns; it is about 12 cm across, with angulated wings, and in color olive brown, with white markings.[3] Other Lepidoptera whose larvae feed on Ailanthus include Endoclita malabaricus.
See also

Spotted lanternfly

References

Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition, September 2012
Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ailanthus". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 437.
"The Plant List - Ailanthus vilmoriniana".
Peter Brown; Helen Roy (23 March 2010). "Invasive species of Oxfordshire". BBC Oxford. Retrieved 9 August 2010.
"National Invasive Species Information Center (NISIC): Gateway to invasive species information; covering Federal, State, local, and international sources".
"The Plant List - Ailanthus malabarica".

Corbett, S.L.; Manchester, S.R. (2004). "Phytogeography and Fossil History of Ailanthus (Simaroubaceae)". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 165 (4): 671–690. doi:10.1086/386378. JSTOR 10.1086/386378. S2CID 85383552.

"Ailanthus Desf". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ailanthus
Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group: Least Wanted