Ailanthus excelsa (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Ailanthus excelsa Roxb.

Family: Simaroubaceae

Synonyms

• Pongelion excelsum (Roxb.) Pierre,
• P. wightii van Tiegh.

Vernacular names

• Tree of heaven (En).

Distribution

India and Sri Lanka.

Uses

Planted as a fuelwood and as a lawn tree to provide shade and to prevent erosion. The branches of mature trees are lopped for fodder. The timber is suitable for boat building, veneer and plywood, packing cases, toys, drums, fishing floats, and matches. The wood is suitable for the manufacture of paper but only with the addition of long-fibred material. The bark is used medicinally against asthma, bronchitis and dysentery.

Observations

• Medium-sized dioecious tree up to 24 m tall; bole up to 80 cm in diameter; bark pale grey.
• Leaves pinnately compound, up to 90 cm long, with 8-14 pairs of leaflets.
• Flowers small, yellowish, in panicles.
• Fruit a 1-seeded samara.

The air-dry density of the yellowish-white wood is 335-480 kg/m³. Seedlings of A. excelsa are avoided by cattle. It is suitable for planting in unfavourable rocky sites, does not tolerate waterlogged soils or high rainfall conditions and demands strong light. It is raised both from seed and stumps and is often planted along land boundaries and watercourses.

Selected sources

• Flora Malesiana (various editors), 1950-. Series 1. Volume 1, 4-. Kluwer, Dordrecht & Flora Malesiana Foundation, Leiden, the Netherlands.
• Gupta, R.K., 1993. Multipurpose trees for agroforestry and wasteland utilization. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi, India. 562 pp.
• National Academy of Sciences, 1980, 1983. Firewood crops: Shrub and tree species for energy production. 2 volumes. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., United States. 237, 92 pp.
• Smitinand, T., Larsen, K. & Hanssen, B. (Editors), 1970-. Flora of Thailand. Volume 2-. Danida, TISTR Press, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Wealth of India (various editors), 1948-1976. A dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products: raw materials. 11 volumes. Publications and Information Directorate, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India. 4441 pp.

Authors

• M.S.M. Sosef & L.J.G. van der Maesen