Tree-of-Heaven

A young tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima); taken outside of Lowell's Mogan Cultural Center

This deciduous tree (meaning it sheds its leaves in fall) can grow up to 70 ft tall! Most you will find in Lowell are much smaller, like the one in the photo to the left. The tree-of-heaven is an incredibly tolerant tree, meaning that under significant pressure (lack of soil, lack of water, excessive heat or cold, lack of sun, chemical buildup, etc.) it is still able to grow - perhaps not to a full seventy feet, but enough to survive at least.

The tree can grow in sun or shade, in dry, rocky, or sandy soil and between the cracks in pavement, concrete and asphalt. This allows the tree-of-heaven to grow where few other plants can, especially in urban environments like Lowell. However, it can also easily begin growing in places which are inconvenient to city-dwellers (e.g. the middle of a sidewalk, or between buildings).

In the 1800s the tree-of-heaven was used in cities and towns across the nation because of its beautiful leaves and astonishing adaptability, imported from central China. Nowadays, the species is considered invasive because it is non-native and spreads too quickly.

 

FUN FACT

The tree-of-heaven is most famous for it's titular role in the New York-based novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith. 
 

“If there was only one tree like that in the world, you would think it was beautiful. But because there are so many, you just can't see how beautiful it really is.”