Ailanthus vilmoriniana

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Ailanthus vilmoriniana
Simaroubaceae - Ailanthus vilmoriniana.jpg
Ailanthus vilmoriniana at the Orto Botanico di Brera
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Simaroubaceae
Genus: Ailanthus
Species:
A. vilmoriniana
Binomial name
Ailanthus vilmoriniana
Dode

Ailanthus vilmoriniana, commonly known as downy tree of heaven, is a tree in the quassia family. It is native to western China, but is occasionally encountered in northern European gardens.

Contents

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 are quite similar to those of A. altissima , but they are darker in colour and pendulous. The rachis 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. [1]

Taxonomic status

Ailanthus vilmoriniana is sometimes regarded as a separate species, for instance in Flora of China , [2] but other authorities consider A. vilmoriniana a synonym of A. altissima , like The Plant List [3] and International Plant Names Index (IPNI). [4]

Cultivation

Ailanthus vilmoriniana is endemic to China, and then was brought to the United Kingdom by Paul Guillaume Farges. [5] The downy tree of heaven was first grown in the United Kingdom in 1897, but it is rarely found in gardens within the British Isles. It is occasionally encountered in plant collections as well as gardens in the south of England. Specimens are also present as far north as the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. [1]

Related Research Articles

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Ailanthus is a genus of trees belonging to the family Simaroubaceae, in the order Sapindales. The genus is native from east Asia south to northern Australasia. One species, the Tree-of-Heaven is considered a weed in some parts of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ailanthus webworm</span> Species of insect

The ailanthus webworm is an ermine moth now found commonly in the United States. It was formerly known under the scientific name Atteva punctella. This small, very colorful moth resembles a true bug or beetle when not in flight, but in flight it resembles a wasp.

<i>Tilia platyphyllos</i> Species of tree

Tilia platyphyllos, the large-leaved lime or large-leaved linden, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae (Tiliaceae). It is a deciduous tree, native to much of continental Europe as well as southwestern Great Britain, growing on lime-rich soils. The common names largeleaf linden and large-leaved linden are in standard use throughout the English-speaking world except in the British Isles, where it is known as large-leaved lime. The name "lime", possibly a corruption of "line" originally from "lind", has been in use for centuries and also attaches to other species of Tilia. It is not, however, closely related to the lime fruit tree, a species of citrus.

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<i>Ailanthus altissima</i> Deciduous tree in the family Simaroubaceae

Ailanthus altissimaay-LAN-thəss al-TIH-sim-ə, commonly known as tree of heaven, Ailanthus, varnish tree, copal tree, stinking sumac, Chinese sumac, paradise tree, or in Chinese as chouchun, is a deciduous tree in the family Simaroubaceae. It is native to northeast and central China, and Taiwan. Unlike other members of the genus Ailanthus, it is found in temperate climates rather than the tropics.

<i>Quercus pubescens</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus pubescens, commonly known as the downy oak, pubescent oak or Italian oak, is a species of white oak native to southern Europe and southwest Asia. It is found from northern Spain (Pyrenees) and France in the West to Turkey and the Caucasus in the East.

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The Simaroubaceae are a small, mostly tropical, family in the order Sapindales. In recent decades, it has been subject to much taxonomic debate, with several small families being split off. A molecular phylogeny of the family was published in 2007, greatly clarifying relationships within the family. Together with chemical characteristics such as the occurrence of petroselinic acid in Picrasma, in contrast to other members of the family such as Ailanthus, this indicates the existence of a subgroup in the family with Picrasma, Holacantha, and Castela.

<i>Samia cynthia</i> Species of moth

Samia cynthia, the ailanthus silkmoth, is a saturniid moth, used to produce silk fabric but not as domesticated as the silkworm, Bombyx mori. The moth has very large wings of 113–125 mm (4.4–4.9 in), with a quarter-moon shaped spot on both the upper and lower wings, whitish and yellow stripes and brown background. There are eyespots on the outer forewings. The species was first described by Dru Drury in 1773.

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Toona sinensis, commonly called Chinese mahogany, Chinese cedar, Chinese toon, beef and onion plant, or red toon is a species of Toona native to eastern and southeastern Asia, ranging from northern Korean peninsula through most of eastern, central, and southwestern China, in Nepal, northeastern India, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, and even present in Malaysia and western Indonesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Nicolas d'Incarville</span>

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<i>Roscoea cautleyoides</i> Species of flowering plant

Roscoea cautleyoides is a perennial herbaceous plant occurring in the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces of China. The scientific name is also spelt Roscoea cautleoides. Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. cautleyoides, like other species of Roscoea, grows in much colder mountainous regions. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.

<i>Davidia involucrata</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Nyssaceae

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<i>Syringa tomentella</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Oleaceae

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<i>Verticillium nonalfalfae</i> Species of fungus

Verticillium nonalfalfae is a soilborne fungus in the order Hypocreales. It causes verticillium wilt in some plant species, particularly Ailanthus altissima. The fungus produces a resting mycelium characterized by brown-pigmented hyphae. It is most closely related to V. dahliae and V. alfalfae.

Eucryptorrhynchus brandti, the snout weevil, is an insect in the weevil family. In its native range in China, it causes significant damage to its single host, Ailanthus altissima, tree of heaven. Thus the weevil is under study as a biological control of tree of heaven in regions where the tree is non-native. In particular, the insect acts as a vector for Verticillium nonalfalfae, a soilborne fungus that causes verticillium wilt.

References

  1. 1 2 Mitchell, Alan (1974). Trees of Britain & Northern Europe. London: Harper Collins Publishers. p. 311. ISBN   0-00-219213-6.
  2. "Ailanthus vilmorinianus Dode". efloras.org. Retrieved 2024-07-02. Mind the spelling of the name: "vilmorinianus"!
  3. "Ailanthus vilmoriniana Dode". theplantlist.org. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  4. "Ailanthus vilmorinianus Dode". ipni.org. Retrieved 2024-07-02. Mind the spelling "vilmorinianus".
  5. "Ailanthus vilmoriniana - Trees and Shrubs Online". www.treesandshrubsonline.org. Retrieved 2024-05-03.