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- Ornamental Features
- The Tree-of-heaven is Ailanthus altissima, immortalized
in the book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," a story about a young
girl inspired to go on despite a difficult life after observing the tenacity
of Ailanthus growing through cracks in the sidewalk. Ailanthus
means "reaching to heaven," and altissima refers to "the
tallest one." Tree-of-heaven was introduced to the United States from
China in 1784 for use as an ornamental, and it has quickly spread to all
parts of urban North Carolina. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and
many find Tree-of-heaven to be very attractive with its tropical appearing
long compound leaves, its smooth bark and its spreading shape.
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