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Ailanthus altissima - (Mill.)Swingle.

Tree Of Heaven

Author	(Mill.)Swingle.	Botanical references	11, 200
Family	Simaroubaceae	Genus	Ailanthus
Synonyms	Ailanthus glandulosa - Desf. Toxicodendron altissimum - Mill.
Known Hazards	The plant is possibly poisonous[7, 20]. Male flowers have potentially allergenic pollen[200]. The leaves are toxic to domestic animals[269]. Gardeners who fell the tree may suffer rashes[269]. The odour of the foliage is intensely disagreeable and can cause headache and nausea, rhinitis and conjunctivitis[269].The pollen can cause hay fever[269].
Range	E. Asia - China. Naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat	Uplands[147].
Edibility Rating	1 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	3 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

A decidious Tree growing to 25m by 15m at a fast rate.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry moist or wet soil and can tolerate drought. The plant is not wind tolerant. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Canopy; Hedge; Bog Garden;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves.

Leaves - cooked[105]. Used as an emergency food in times of scarcity, they have an offensive odour[2, 177, 178]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Anthelmintic; Antibacterial; Antispasmodic; Astringent; Bitter; Cardiac; Deobstruent; Diuretic; Emetic; Emmenagogue; Febrifuge; Rubefacient.

The tree of heaven is not often used in Western herbal medicine, though it is more popular in the Orient. Various parts of the plant are used, though the bark is the part most commonly used - however, it contains a glycoside that has not been fully researched and so should be used with caution[7]. The root and stem bark are antispasmodic, astringent, bitter, cardiac depressant, diuretic, emetic, febrifuge, rubefacient and vermifuge[4, 61, 147, 176, 178, 218, 238]. The vermifuge properties do not act on round worms or earthworms[269]. A nauseatingly bitter herb, it is used internally to treat malaria and fevers, it also slows the heart rate and relaxes spasms[238]. It needs to be used under the supervision of a qualified practitioner since the bark readily causes vomiting[238]. In China, the bark is a popular remedy for dysentery and other complaints of the bowels[4]. In one clinical trial, 81 out of 82 patients were cured of dysentery when they were given this herb[254]. A tincture of the root-bark has been used successfully in the treatment of cardiac palpitations, asthma and epilepsy[4]. Tree-of-heaven is a folk remedy for asthma, cancer, diarrhoea, dysentery, dysmenorrhoea, dysuria, ejaculation (premature), epilepsy, eruption, fever, gonorrhoea, haematochezia, leucorrhoea, malaria, metrorrhagia, sores, spasms, spermatorrhoea, stomachic, tumours of the breast (China), and wet dreams[269] The bark is harvested in the spring and dried for later use[7]. The leaves, bark of the trunk, and roots are put into a wash to treat parasitic ulcers, itch, and eruptions[269]. In Korea, the root bark is used in the treatment of coughs, gastric and intestinal upsets[269]. The stembark is emmenagogue[218]. The leaves are anthelmintic, astringent and deobstruent[218]. The fruit is used in the treatment of bloody stools and dysentery[218, 269]. They have also been used to treat ophthalmic diseases[269]. Extracts from the plant are bactericidal[218]. The tree is used in homeopathic remedies for cancer[269]. A resin extracted from the roots and leaves is a revulsive or vesicant[269].

Other Uses

Dye; Hedge; Herbicide; Insecticide; Repellent; Soil reclamation; Soil stabilization; Tannin; Wood.

A yellow dye is obtained from the leaves[7]. The leaves contain 12% tannin, quercetin, as well as isoquercetin, and the alkaloid linuthine[218, 269]. The leaves and wood are high in cellulose and are used in paper-making[7, 74]. The crushed leaves and flowers are insect-repellent[14]. The plant parts, when steeped in water, are said to yield an insecticidal solution[218, 269]. An aqueous extract of the leaves contains a substance that is toxic to other tree seedlings[240]. When plants are put into marshy areas they drain the soil and thereby remove mosquito breeding sites[254]. The plants have extensive root systems and sucker freely, they can be used in soil-stabilization programmes[149]. Since the plant is tolerant of soil pollution it can also be used in land reclamation schemes on old mine tips etc[200]. Plants can be grown as a tall hedge[14]. Wood - fairly hard, heavy, difficult to split, not durable, coarse grained. Though little used, except in poorer countries, the wood is suitable for cabinetry, cellulose manufacture, furniture, lumber, pulp, and woodwork. It is difficult to split but easy to work and polish. The wood is also used locally for charcoal and firewood[4, 46, 149, 178, 269]. Yields of 20 cubic metres per hectare is possible for this light wood[269].

Scented Plants

Leaves: Crushed

The large leaves have glandular teeth near their base and these release a pungent aroma when pressed.

Cultivation details

A very tough and easily grown tree, succeeding under most conditions, the Tree of Heaven is resistant to most diseases and is also reported to be tolerant of alkalinity, drought, frost, heat, high pH, hydrogen fluoride, low pH, pollution, SO2, poor, dry or wet soils, heavily polluted soils and industrial pollution[200, 269]. The plant prefers a light moist soil and a sheltered position[1, 133]. Prefers a position in full sun or partial shade[238]. The tree is estimated to tolerate an annual precipitation of 30 to 250cm (tolerating a dry season up to 8 months), an annual average temperature of 10° to 20°C, and a pH of 5.5 to 8.0. Growing on the smallest of city plots and rubbish heaps, this species obviously can tolerate a wide array of soils, from acid to alkaline, sand to light clay, well-drained to swampy, poor to rich. It is said to do poorly on chalky soils or compact clay[269]. Plants are hardy to at least -15°c[200]. A very ornamental tree, it has a somewhat tropical appearance and is fast growing when young[1, 7, 14], though it is rather short-lived[229]. The trees send up suckers freely and soon form dense thickets[7, 200, 229]. The plant has become a noxious weed in parts of Australia and is rather weed-like in many other countries[238, 269]. The roots are rather aggressive and can cause damage to drainage systems[226]. The plants thrive even when growing in very polluted cities[11, 229] and so have been used as street trees and as shade-trees in parks[268], they do not do well in the north of Britain, however[98]. Male flowers are malodorous and have potentially allergenic pollen[80, 200]. The crushed leaves are also malodorous[226]. The large leaves have glandular teeth near their base and these release a pungent aroma when pressed[245]. The disagreeable odour of the plant may cause some people to feel sleepy[269]. This tree is occasionally cultivated for its wood[149]. This is brittle however, and branches are very liable to break off in the wind[200]. Trees coppice readily[200]. The leaves were once used as a food for silkworms[2], but were found to be unsuitable[7]. This species is notably resistant to honey fungus[88, 200]. Dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if seed is required[269].

Propagation

Seed - best sown outdoors as soon as it is ripe[78]. If you only have a small quantity of seed it will probably be better to sow it in a cold frame. The germination can be poor[80], averaging about 56%[98], though one kilo of seed will normally produce in the region of 6,500 usable plants[269]. The seed germinates best if given a short cold stratification of 8 weeks[80, 113]. The seed is not usually produced in Britain[80]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle, keep them in a cold frame for their first winter and plant them out in late spring[K]. Root cuttings in December[113]. Suckers, planted out in late winter.

Links

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[14] Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press 1979 ISBN 0-87857-262-7
A good herbal.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[20] Riotte. L. Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Garden Way, Vermont, USA. 1978 ISBN 0-88266-064-0
Fairly good.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[80] McMillan-Browse. P. Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. Grower Books 1985 ISBN 0-901361-21-6
Does not deal with many species but it is very comprehensive on those that it does cover. Not for casual reading.

[88] RHS. The Garden. Volume 112. Royal Horticultural Society 1987
Snippets of information from the magazine of the RHS. In particular, there are articles on plants that are resistant to honey fungus, oriental vegetables, Cimicifuga spp, Passiflora species and Cucurbits.

[98] Gordon. A. G. and Rowe. D. C. f. Seed Manual for Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. 0
Very comprehensive guide to growing trees and shrubs from seed. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[113] Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987 ISBN 0942375009
A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.

[133] Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 1. Thompson and Morgan. 1987
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[147] ? A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press 0 ISBN 0-914294-92-X
A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.

[149] Vines. R. A. Trees of Central Texas. University of Texas Press 1987 ISBN 0-292-78958-3
Fairly readable, it gives details of habitats and some of the uses of trees growing in Texas.

[176] Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles 1985
An excellent Chinese herbal giving information on over 500 species. Rather technical and probably best suited to the more accomplished user of herbs.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre 0
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[226] Lauriault. J. Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ontario. 1989 ISBN 0889025649
Very good on identification for non-experts, the book also has a lot of information on plant uses.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

[268] Stuart. M. (Editor) The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism Orbis Publishing. London. 1979 ISBN 0-85613-067-2
Excellent herbal with good concise information on over 400 herbs.

[269] Duke. J. Handbook of Energy Crops - 1983
Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of plants.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Ailanthus altissima

Prof. Costas Cassios Sun Apr 13 06:04:17 2003

the tree behaves very good in forest fires when it grows in pine (aleppo pine) forest stands such as in southern Greece. The Ailanthus is used to cover firebelts in steep slopes and thus to eliminate erosion.In the reforestation plans with main species pines Ailanthus is used as a mixture species in a 10%(mainly seeds) and besides fire resistance adds because of the texture of the leaves and crown a better aesthetic appearance .

Ailanthus altissima

Jasmina Muzinic Mon Sep 6 11:04:40 2004

Croatia is full of this plant. I don't know if Croatian Ministry of Forestry is aware of its spredding and problems that it caused. Jasmina Muzinic: jasmina@hazu.hr

Ailanthus altissima

Ladislav Bakay Tue Jan 3 2006

Wood is used to make guitars, very nice sound. But its an agressive plant and we have "problems" with that as well in Slovakia.

Ailanthus altissima

williams Wed Aug 23 2006

It's growing in a 70ft london garden and is at least 27 years old. Its proving to be a nuisance - blocking out sun & light and generates alot of debris.

Ailanthus altissima

Mark. Gooley Wed Jun 11 2008

Hardy at least to zone 5 if not colder. Highly invasive in much of the USA at least, in my experience certainly in Illinois and in Boulder, Colorado. Legendary as "the tree that grows in Brooklyn" in the days of extreme urban pollution, ubiquitous in old mining towns in California where Chinese miners introduced it, perhaps for its medicinal value. I would think twice before planting it anywhere.

Ailanthus altissima

wonder Sat Aug 23 2008

Has anyone actually eaten this plant? If so, does it retain its "foul odor" when cooked?

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