Ailanthus altissima (Miller) Swingle, Simaroubaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results: 

Reject, score: 12 (Go to the risk assessment (Australia))
High risk, score: 21 (Go to the risk assessment (Pacific))

Common name(s): [more details]

English: China sumac, Chinese tree of heaven, stinktree, tree of heaven, varnishtree

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Deciduous tree 8-10 (-25) m high with ± rounded crown; branchlets robust, reddish-brown, ascending; leaf rachis held erect but leaflets tend to droop; suckers profusely.  Leaves:  Dark green with yellowish autumn tints, 300-600 (-1000) mm long; leaflets with 1-4 large, basal, gland-bearing teeth; bad-smelling when bruised.  Flowers: ± Greenish-yellow, ± 3 mm long, unisexual and bisexual, male flowers bad-smelling, in large terminal sprays.  Fruits:  Samaras ± long, green turning reddish-orange, twisted, in large bunches up to 300 mm across"  (Henderson, 1995; p. 60).

Habitat/ecology:  Wide variety of climatic zones from temperate to tropical.  "Produces abundant root sprouts that can develop into extensive thickets and displace native vegetation.  In urban areas it is a maintenance problem for landscapers"  (Randall et al., 1966; p. 27).  "Spreads rapidly on undisturbed grazing land, roadsides and waste places, on both clay and sandy soils"  (Cronk & Fuller, 2001; p. 135).

Propagation:  Seeds and suckers. Seeds dispersed by wind, water and birds.

Native range:  East Asia (China).

Presence:

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	Weber, Ewald (2003) (p. 32)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 12)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	introduced	Weber, Ewald (2003) (p. 31)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 1215) "Mainly on roadsides and in waste places in the vicinity of gardens and plantations".

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast and Florida) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced invasive	Weber, Ewald (2003) (p. 31)

Control:  Additional information on control methods from the Bugwood Wiki.

Physical: Hand-pull seedlings. Cutting or girdling alone is only partially effective because of resprouting.

Chemical: Cut stumps must be treated with a herbicide (such as Picloram ortriclopyr) to prevent resprouting. Hexazinone can be applied by spot gun. Regrowth can be treated with a foliar spray.

Additional information:
Fact sheet on Ailanthus altissima from the Native Plant Conservation Alliance, Alien Plant Working Group.
Information from the Bugwood Wiki.
Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima) factsheet (from Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation's invasive plant species list)  
Information on this species from "Silvics of North American", USDA Agriculture Handbook 654.
Information from the Purdue University NewCROP web site.
Information from "Invasive plants of Asian origin established in the United States and their natural enemies, volume 1" (PDF format).
Draft European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization datasheet.
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.
Information from the Global Invasive Species Database.
Information from the publication "Nonnative invasive plants of Southern forests: A field guide for identification and control".
Information from the Southeast Exotic Pest Plant Council Invasive Plant Manual.
Species profile from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Invasive Species Information Center.

Additional online information about Ailanthus altissima is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Ailanthus altissima as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Ailanthus altissima may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Cronk, Q. C. B./Fuller, J. L. 2001. Plant invaders. Earthscan Publications, Ltd., London. 241 pp.

Henderson, Lesley. 1995. Plant invaders of Southern Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook No. 5, Agriculture Research Council, ARC/LNR, Pretoria, South Africa. 177 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Miller, James H. 2003. Nonnative invasive plants of Southern forests: A field guide for identification and control. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-62. 93 p.

Parsons, W. T./Cuthbertson, E. G. 1992. Noxious weeds of Australia. Inkata Press, Melbourne/Sydney. 692 pp.

Randall, J. M./Marinelli, J. (eds.). 1996. Invasive plants: weeds of the global garden. Brooklyn Botanic Garden Handbook 149. 111 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.

Zheng, Hao/Wu, Yun/Ding, Jianqing/Binion, Denise/Fu, Weidong/Reardon, Richard. 2004. Invasive plants of Asian origin established in the United States and their natural enemies, volume 1. FHTET-2004-05. U.S. Forest Service, Morgantown.