Description
Potentailly misidentified species- Young saplings of Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven) can be mistaken for native Sumacs (Rhus spp.)
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plantae | Magnoliophyta | Magnoliopsida | Sapindales | Simaroubaceae | Ailanthus |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Established | Expanding | Introduced | Boundary Resident | North America | Asia | Ornamental(Garden Escape) |
History of Spread
Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven) is native to northern China, and was introduced to Paris as an ornamental tree, between 1740 and 1750. It was brought to North America by 1820, and widely planted for its rapid growth and tolerance of urban stresses (Kiviat 2004). Gray (1848) noted its widespread plantings, in spite of its foul-smelling flowers. By 1908, Robinson and Fernald (1908) noted that it was "locally self-sown" in the eastern U.S.. It is now widely escaped in waste grounds and disturbed sites, and is currently known from 43 states (Natural Resources Conservation Service 2004) and Ontario (Canadian Wildlife Service 2004).
In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Ailanthus altissima was collected "in vicinis Washington DC" (U.S. National Herbarium Collections) in 1876 by L. F. ward, but not included in his "Guide to the flora of Washington and Vicinity" (Ward 1881). It was also listed for Baltimore by Sollers (1888). It was not clear whether these records were of cultivated or escaped trees, but by 1919, A. altissima was described as "becoming naturalized" in "waste ground" (Hitchcock and Standley 1919). By 1972, Brown and Brown described its habitat as "fence rows, roadsides, waste areas, almost everywhere except forest shade" ( Brown and Brown 1972). It is widespread in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but only one occurrence in tidal wetlands has been reported.
Kiviat (2004) mentions occasional occurrences of A. altissima in estuarine habitats in RI, CT, NY, and NJ, and describes the first reported extensive tidal wetland stand of this tree, along the Patuxent River in Anne Arundel County MD. This grove covered ~1,000 m2 of tidally flooded wetland, above mean high water. The age of the trees was not mentioned, but the stand was first observed in 1997 (Kiviat 2004).
History References- Brown and Brown 1972; Canadian Wildlife Service 2004; Gray 1848; Hitchcock and Standley 1919; Kiviat 2004; Natural Resources Conservation Service 2004); Robinson and Fernald 1908; Sollers 1888; U.S. National Herbarium Collections; Ward 1881
Invasion Comments
None
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | -13.0 | |||
| Salinity (‰) | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Oxygen | None | |||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | fresh-oligo |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
|||
| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
|||
| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven) was initially imported to North America and the Chesapeake Bay region as an ornamental, but it soon lost its appeal because of its foul-smelling flowers, rapid clonal spread, and weedy growth habits. This tree frequently damages pavement and water-pipes with its roots, and breaks easily under storm conditions. It is regarded as a pest in forests, where it springs up rapidly after disturbance, crowding out more desirable trees and other plants (Maryland Invasive Species Council 2003; Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation 1999). However, it is a rare invader in intertidal wetlands (Kiviat 2004).
References- Kiviat 2004; Maryland Invasive Species Council 2003; Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation 1999
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven) was initially imported to North America as an ornamental, but it soon lost its appeal because of its foul-smelling flowers, rapid clonal spread, and weedy growth habits. It is now regarded as an undesirable tree throughout its North American range (Natural Resources Conservation Service 2004). However, it is a rare invader in intertidal wetlands (Kiviat 2004).
References- Kiviat 2004; Natural Resources Conservation Service 2004
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven) is common to abundant throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, especially in disturbed areas (Brown and Brown 1972; Harvill et al. 1992). While it is most frequently associated with urban areas, roadsides, fields, and fence-rows, it invades forest edges, logged areas, and fence-rows (Brown and Brown 1972; Kiviat 2004). This tree is considered invasive in MD(Maryland Invasive Species Council 2004) and VA (Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation 1999) and is highly competitive with native plants. It releases allelopathic chemicals which may inhibit other species. However, in an intertidal stand dominated by A. altissima, species richness was moderately high (41 species), possibly because the allelopathic chemicals were diluted by tidal flooding (Kiviat 2004).
We know of only one well-documented intertidal occurrence in the Chesapeake Bay region (Kiviat 2004), so that its impacts in Chesapeake tidal wetlands appear to be limited.
References- Brown and Brown 1972; Harvill et al. 1992; Kiviat 2004)
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Ailanthus altissima (Tree-of-Heaven) is common to abundant throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed, especially in disturbed areas (Brown and Brown 1972; Harvill et al. 1992), where it is likely to compete with other introduced, invasive trees. Possible introduced competitors include Albizia julibrissin (Silktree) and Pawlonia tomentosa (Princess-Tree) (Brown and Brown 1972). These trees occur in riparian habitats, but have not been reported from intertidal areas, to our knowledge.
In an intertidal stand on the Patuxent River, one co-occurring tree, Robinia pseudo-acacia is native to the watershed, from the Blue Ridge westward, but may be introduced to the Coastal Plain (Wells and Brown 2000).
We know of only one well-documented intertidal occurrence in the Chesapeake Bay region (Kiviat 2004), so that its impacts in Chesapeake tidal wetlands appear to be limited. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service uses a system of codes to indicate the tendency of plants to occur in wetlands (R-1 Wetlands Indicator). Ailanthus altissima has been assigned an R-1 value of 'NI ' in the Chesapeake Bay region, meaning "no information". Elsewhere in the U.S, the R-1 codes for this tree range from "NI" to "FACU" (which is roughly equivalent to a 25% chance of this plant occurring in wetlands (Natural Resources Conservation Service 2004).
References
Brown, M. L.; Brown, R. G. (1972) Woody plants of Maryland., , College Park. Pp.2004 Invasive species in Canada.. http://www.cwf-fcf.org/invasive/chooseSC.asp
Fernald, Merritt L. (1950) Gray's Manual of Botany, In: (Eds.) . , New York. Pp.
Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur (1991) Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, In: (Eds.) . , Bronx, New York. Pp.
Gray, Asa (1848) A manual of botany of the northern United States., In: (Eds.) . , Boston. Pp.
Harvill, A. M.; Bradley, Ted R.; Stevens, Charles E.; Wieboldt, Thomas F.; Ware, Donna M. E.; Ogle, Douglas W.; Ramsey, Gwynn W.; Fleming, Gary P. (1992) Atlas of the Virginia Flora, , Burkeville, VA. Pp.
Hitchcock, A. S.; Standley, P. C. (1919) Flora of the District of Columbia and Vicinity., In: (Eds.) . , Washington, D. C.. Pp.
Kiviat, E. (2004) Occurrence of Ailanthus altissima in a Maryland freshwater tidal estuary., Castanea 69: 138-142
2003 Invasive species of concern in Maryland.. Web page: http://www.mdinvasivesp.org
1997-2024 USDA PLANTS Database.. Onine databse
Robinson, Benjamin Lincoln; Fernald, Merrit L. (1908) Gray's New Manual of Botany., , New York. Pp.
Sollers, Basil (1888) Check list of plants compiled for the vicinity of Baltimore., , Baltimore. Pp.
Tatnall, Robert R. (1946) Flora of Delaware and the Eastern Shore, , Wilmington. Pp.
1999 Invasive Alien Plant Species of Virginia. http://www.state.va.us/~dcr/dnh/invlist.htm
Ward, L. F. (1881) Guide to the flora of Washington and Vicinity, United States National Museum Bulletin 22: 1-264
Wells, Elizabeth Fortson; Brown, Rebecca Louise (2000) An annotated checklist of the vascular plants in the forest at historic Mount Vernon: A legacy from the past., Castanea 65: 242-257