''Ailanthus vilmoriniana'', commonly known as downy tree of heaven, is a tree in the quassia family. It is native to western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, but is occasionally encountered in northern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an gardens.

Description

''Ailanthus vilmoriniana'' is a tree that often attains heights of 20 metres or more with a crown spread of 15 metres. The new shoots occasionally have small green spines. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are quite similar to those of '' A. altissima'', but they are darker in colour and pendulous. The

rachis In biology, a rachis (from the grc, ῥάχις [], "backbone, spine") is a main axis or "shaft". In zoology and microbiology In vertebrates, ''rachis'' can refer to the series of articulated vertebrae, which encase the spinal cord. In this c ...

is finely pubescent and is a consistent deep red in colour. It is also longer, being up to 1 metre long on pollards, and with more leaflets, usually numbering 23 to 35, though they have sometimes as few as 20. The leaves are pubescent beneath. The bole itself occasionally will have sprouts emerging from it.

Cultivation

The downy tree of heaven was first grown in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1897, but it is rarely found in gardens within the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. It is occasionally encountered in plant collections as well as gardens in the south of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Specimens are also present as far north as the Royal Botanic Gardens in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

References

vilmoriniana Trees of China {{rosid-tree-stub