TWISTED CRITTER
“ALLIANTHUS ALTISSIMA” known as “THE TREE OF HEAVEN”
by Zeke Loftin - Twisted South Emporium
Today’s, “Twisted Twig,” is an alien species to the American continent. The Invasion of this, “alien tree,” arrived from China. It is basically “Kudzu on a stump.” Originally brought over by collectors as an exotic tree, (which baffles me due to the noxious smell), it was intended for urban environments where other trees would likely fail. They neglected to consider its enormous ability of Allianthus to seed and its immunity to most herbicides. And, if you try and cut it down without poisoning it first, it comes back as a multi-trunk force!
lt is hard to kill, if not jerked out of the ground by the roots when young. Now it’s cohort, the Lanternfly, a.k.a., Lycorma Deliculata, ( See Twisted Critter to learn more about the Lanternfly), it’s partner tree, which was already here, established, and waiting for this demonic bug to arrive. It had been here for decades and recently began rapidly spreading across America. The Allianthus and Lanternfly are teamed up now against American food crops, beer and wine. Now do I have your attention?
“Allianthus Altissima,” or “Tree Of Heaven,” had infiltrated our country decades ago introduced by collectors, and gardeners with little awareness of how ultra-invasive the tree species would be here in North America.
Just as Kudzu was brought from China, and Japan to feed livestock, stop erosion on banks urban farmers and the Highway Department quickly found out Kudzu not only grows inches per day it also has no native predators. Nothing eats it! Even our livestock were not impressed and could not eat enough to make a dent in its hyperactive growth, and Kudzu now eats entire farms, farm houses, barns, silos and tractors. It is not unusual to see a farm devoured by Kudzu resembling topiary farms in the “hollers,” and even entire valleys of the South and it appears to be here forever. Often known as the, “Vine that ate the South” Our friend, J.D. Wilkes wrote a book with a mythical warning of Kudzu, now we have their evil cousins in our country.
“In a forgotten corner of western Kentucky lies a haunted forest referred to locally as "The Deadening," where vampire cults roam wild and time is immaterial. Our protagonist and his accomplice―the one and only, Carver Canute―set out down the Old Spur Line in search of the legendary Kudzu House, where an old couple is purported to have been swallowed whole by a hungry vine.” The Vine That Ate The South” - Col. J.D. Wilkes
“Tree Of Heaven,” is like, “Kudzu on a trunk”, and nothing wants to eat the foul tasting tree and it seeds freely…everywhere.
Back in the days when Manhattan and Brooklyn had terrible air quality due to residual, old smoke, billowing from factories and automobiles without modern pollution prevention killed almost all the urban trees surrounded heavily by buildings and concrete. Almost all the trees died especially in Brooklyn. A book was written in 1943 called, “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn”. Guess what tree survived the 1940’s urban-pollution, growing in cracks in the concrete? You got it! The Allianthus.
How this tree got nicknames like, ‘The Tree Of Heaven,’ and ‘Paradise Tree,’ baffles me. A few of its nicknames are more appropriate like, ‘Stinking Sumac,’ and ‘Ghetto Palm’, the latter being due to its ability to tolerate harsh areas with little vegetation, high pollution and lots of concrete.
It is a horticultural monster and like Kudzu it may be here to stay. I spoke with a winery owner in the western part of Virginia and stated that he had trapped his first Lanternfly, a few weeks ago. The State and Federal Agricultural Department have outlined a plan for him to kill the trees; to prevent the spread of the, “grape-loving,” Lanternfly (See more about the Lanternfly in this week’s Twisted Critter - Here is an excerpt) - ‘If you lift a branch on this tree you are likely to see an army of Lanternflies, filling up on the obnoxious sap.
The Lanternfly does not naturally taste and smell terrible, it loads up on this tree’s noxious sap to make it indigestible, (terrible tasting), to predators. If we could eliminate the, “Tree Of Heaven,” the Lanternfly would lose its foul-tasting defense and all of our natural predators would take them out, as the Lanternfly would become a food source for snakes, lizards, frogs, toads and birds. Our Southern predators would be our army.’
Lets hope we can get, ‘The Tree Of Heaven’, headed to horticultural hell. Every animal, fish, insect, bug or vine we allow to invade our country tends to kill and displace the wonderful plants, fish or animals of America. Contact your local Agricultural Extension Office if you encounter this tree on your property or the properties owned by Government, or Corporations. If the trees are young wear gloves and yank them out of the ground. If larger they can be dug up (call about gas/electric/water lines prior). If they are too large to get all of the root ask your Ag. Extension Dept. how to kill them.
Find a proper place to incinerate them since tossing them into piles, or any attempt at using them for mulch, will just spread the seeds. Call your City Government about disposal or burning and a warning - The Smoke Stinks! Someone joked to me that Allianthus tree seeds and Lanternfly eggs were probably in those mysterious balloons from China, but the truth is we brought them over without doing our homework. Introducing non-native species like pythons, boas and even anaconda snakes in Florida, usually ends in disaster. However, I look forward to introducing you to more wanted, beautiful and unusual animal and plant Natives of the Southern United States soon.
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