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A few weeks ago I read an article in the Washington Post about the Paulonia, or Princess Tree, that is being illegally cut down and shipped to Japan where it is sold for considerable amounts of money. I had heard of this before. The demand for the wood of this tree is so high in Japan where it once grew, that a 75-year-old, 20 foot log of a Princess Tree sold for $20,000.
In Japan, the wood is in demand for religious and ceremonial objects associated with weddings. Japan’s own Princess Trees were wiped out by a virus in the 1970s. Poachers are removing them at night from private land in the U.S. and selling them for big money. I find it difficult to understand how several men could use a chain saw to take down a big tree, then remove the log for sale without someone knowing of it. That question, however, is not what I am addressing in this column.
Paulonia is a handsome tree with great heart-shaped leaves and bold violet-blue flowers. I see them often. The tree is occasionally confused with our elegant and beautiful native, the Catalpa. Catalpa also has heart-shaped leaves but its flowers are pinkish white and spotted with purple.
This piece is about neither Catalpa nor Paulonia. It is about Tree-of-Heaven, Ailanthus Ultissima; a serious tree pest. It is everywhere, crowding out our native trees. The Washington Post story set me to thinking and wishing. I let my fancy loose on the idea of a sudden demand by some country — with such money involved — for the Tree-ofHeaven or Ailanthus altissima. What a welcome benefit the removal of this tree from Virginia would be!
Tree-of-Heaven is particularly obvious at this time of the year because the female trees are decked out with clusters of winged seeds in either pale green or a curious shade of reddish brown. I avoid thinking of the native trees Ailanthus is displacing.
Ailanthus has huge compound leaves that can be three feet long. Most are a bit smaller. These big leaves are composed of from 31 to 41 leaflets, each with a notch at its base. It’s this notched leaflet base that distinguishes the Ailanthus from our beau
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