Memories....
Introduction: This non-native Asian imported tree will rapidly grow to 70 to 100 feet in height and produces an open canopy. Broken stems smell of rancid peanut butter, and male trees reportedly smell worse than females.
Specifics: Scientific name: Ailanthus altissima
Pronunciation: ay-LANTH-us al-TISS-sim-muh
Common name(s): Ailanthus, Tree-of-Heaven, Chinese sumac, stinking shumac
Leah name: Brooklyn weed
Tree-of-Heaven Culture: Tree-of-Heaven performs best in full sun on well drained, moist soil but this is a tree that will survive almost anywhere, under any cultural conditions - smoke, dust, hot, cold, wet, or dry. It has been known to appear in cracks of pavement or even trash piles, and it will survive where no other trees will grow. If well cared for, this tree can persist for a long time. Large specimens are known to grow trunks up to five feet in diameter.
"The tree that grows in Brooklyn could be none other than this species. Tough, persistent, and durable to a fault, it has few redeeming landscape features."
Edward Sibley Barnard, Author, "New York City Trees":
"Biologists trying to keep the ailanthus from overwhelming native trees in urban parks and preserves have had only limited success. Despite their efforts, the ailanthus is here to stay."
"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn": The Tree-of-Heaven was used as the major inspirational theme in Betty Smith's novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". The metaphor she used was that the ailanthus' obvious persistence was like her book's characters aspirations to a better life.
Little did she know that this plant is actually capable of widespread destruction of urban property in the form of damaged building foundations and sidewalks. That is literally the reverse of the metaphor expressed in the book.
