Hi Daniel, We have several of these beautiful trees in Ladysmith but no one seems to know what they are. One guess was Sumac and the leaves are similar to that family but I was unable to locate anything that resembled it precisely. Can you help? Cheers, Carita
Hello Carita, This is Ailanthus altissima - the tree of heaven, a member of the family Simaroubaceae or the quassia family (typically tropical and subtropical distribution) To confirm: Link 1: Plants of the Kaweah River Delta - Chinese tree of heaven Link 2: Universitat de les Illes Balears - Virtual Herbarium for Ailanthus altissima (Spanish only) Link 3: Brooklyn Botanic Garden - Ailanthus altissima Link 4: US National Park Service - Tree-of-Heaven Some of these links mention that this plant is invasive - and it is, throughout most of the continental US. When I lived in southeast Washington, it was a problem in a friend's backyard; he found it impossible to eradicate. That being said, I suspect it isn't a problem in Ladysmith, and it seems to make a nice specimen tree. I like the colour on the samaras (winged fruit).
