Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle

Spice Flowers In the field In the field 2

Family: SIMAROUBACEAE

Genus: Ailanthus

Catalan common name: Ailant. Fals vernís. Hivernenc. Vernís del Japó.

Spanish common name: Ailanto. Árbol de los dioses. Árbol del cielo.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Chinese-Japanese

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Macrophanerophyte.

Habitats: Cultivated fields, path and road sides, disturbed zones. Rocky coastlines. Garden plants. Non-saline wetlands (intermittent watercourses, streams, artesian wells, ditches). Naturalizated in road and torrent sides. Gardens.

Characteristics: This tree originally came from China and has spread through the Mediterranean occupying torrents, roadsides and the sides of many houses. It is a deciduous winter tree which can reach 20 metres in height. Its bark is smooth and whitish. The top of the tree is quite wide. The leaves are composite with wide, lobular, triangular leaflets which are truncated at the base. The individual plants are unisex, so there are male and female ones. The flowers are small and green, grouped in panicles measuring about twenty cm. The fruits are winged. It can be confused with Fraxinus angustifolia, which is also deciduous and has winged fruits, but this has pointed, dented leaflets, and in the Balearics they can only be found on the sides of torrents (dry river beds) in Mallorca. It flowers at the end of spring and in summer.