Eden

Penang Botanic Gardens Plant Collection

Ailanthus triphysa (Dennst.) Alston (SIMAROUBACEAE)

Posted at — Nov 13, 2019
Tree of Heaven, White Bean, Ferntop Ash, White Siris

Description

Medium to tall evergreen tree to 45 m tall. Leaves pinnately compound without terminal leaflets, 45-60 cm long, leaflets 5-10 pairs, ovate, oblong, sickle-shaped. Flowers white in lax axillary clusters. Fruit a samara, 5-8 cm long, reddish brown, membranous, flat.

Ecology

Evergreen and seasonal forests up to 600 m altitude.

Distribution

India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indochina, S China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, Philippines, N Australia.

Uses

Timber used in matchwood and plywood. In India, the incense resin halmaddi is extracted from the trunk of the tree.