Ailanthus

File:Ailanthus altissima 002.JPG

The number of living species is disputed, with some authorities accepting up to ten species, while others accept six or fewer. Species include:

• Ailanthus altissima {{Au|(Mill.) Swingle}} (tree of heaven, syn. A. vilmoriniana {{Au|Dode}}{{cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/kew-2626859|title=The Plant List – Ailanthus vilmoriniana}}) – northern and central mainland China, Taiwan. Invasive in North America, Europe, Britain, and Australia.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/oxford/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8582000/8582535.stm|title=Invasive species of Oxfordshire|author1=Peter Brown|author2=Helen Roy|author2-link=Helen Roy|date=23 March 2010|publisher=BBC Oxford|access-date=9 August 2010}}{{cite web|url=https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/profile/tree-heaven|title= National Invasive Species Information Center (NISIC): Gateway to invasive species information; covering Federal, State, local, and international sources.}} Serves as central metaphor in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
• Ailanthus excelsa {{Au|Roxb.}} – India and Sri Lanka
• Ailanthus fordii {{Au|Noot.}} – China
• Ailanthus integrifolia {{Au|Lam.}} – New Guinea and Queensland, Australia
• Ailanthus triphysa {{Au|(Dennst.) Alston}} (white siris syn. A. malabarica{{cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl/record/tro-50126836|title=The Plant List – Ailanthus malabarica}}) – India, South-east Asia and Australia
• Ailanthus vietnamensis {{Au|H.V.Sam & Noot.}} – Vietnam

There is a good fossil record of Ailanthus with many species names based on their geographic occurrence, but almost all of these have very similar morphology and have been grouped as a single species among the three species recognized:{{cite journal|author1=Corbett, S.L. |author2=Manchester, S.R. |year=2004|title=Phytogeography and Fossil History of Ailanthus (Simaroubaceae)|journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |volume=165|issue=4|pages=671–690|jstor=10.1086/386378|doi=10.1086/386378|s2cid=85383552 }}

• Ailanthus tardensis {{Au|Hably}} – from a single locality in Hungary
• Ailanthus confucii {{Au|Unger}} – Tertiary period, Europe, Asia, and North America
• Ailanthus gigas {{Au|Unger}} – from a single locality in Slovenia
• Ailanthus pythii {{Au|Unger}} – known from the Miocene of Iceland, Styria in Austria and the Gavdos island in Greece
• Ailanthus kurzii {{Au|Prain}} – endemic to the Andaman Islands, India
• Ailanthus maximus {{Au|Liu}} – known from the latest Paleocene to late Oligocene in the Tibetan Plateau{{cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018219300574|title=Biotic interchange through lowlands of Tibetan Plateau suture zones during Paleogene|author1=Jia Liu|author2=Tao Su|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |date=2019|volume=524 |pages=33–40 |publisher=Elsevier|doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.02.022 |bibcode=2019PPP...524...33L |access-date=15 December 2024}}

A silk spinning moth, the ailanthus silkmoth (Samia cynthia), lives on Ailanthus leaves, and yields a silk more durable and cheaper than mulberry silk, but inferior to it in fineness and gloss. This moth has been introduced to the eastern United States and is common near many towns; it is about 12 cm across, with angulated wings, and in color olive brown, with white markings. Other Lepidoptera whose larvae feed on Ailanthus include Endoclita malabaricus, and Atteva aurea (commonly known as the Ailanthus webworm moth).

• Spotted lanternfly

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• {{APNI | name=Ailanthus Desf. | id = 25309}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20001023195846/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?326 Germplasm Resources Information Network: Ailanthus]
• [http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/aial1.htm Plant Conservation Alliance's Alien Plant Working Group: Least Wanted]

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Category:Sapindales genera