438

Ailanthus excelsa Roxb.

Family	:	Simaroubaceae
Local name	:	English- Tree of heaven Malayalam- Matti
Flowering and fruiting period	:	December-July
Distribution	:	Indo-Malesia
Distribution in Kerala	:	Palakkad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Wayanad
Habitat	:	Planted in the plains
Uses	:	The aromatic leaves are reported to have medicinal properties. The bark is a febrifuge and can be used as a treatment against asthma, bronchitis and dysentery. The leaves and bark are also in good repute as a tonic that is used after labour.
Key botanical characters: Trees, to 25 m high, bark light greyish-brown, fibrous or glandular, rough. Leaves pari or imparipinnate, alternate, estipulate; rachis 20-80 cm long, stout, swollen at base, pubescent; leaflets 13-29, subopposite; slender, pubescent; lamina 9-15 x 4-6 cm, very variable in shape, mostly ovate-lanceolate, base unequal or truncate, apex acute or acuminate, margin irregularly and coarsely dentate, membranous, pubescent; lateral nerves 12-20 pairs, pinnate, prominent, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers polygamous, 8 mm across, yellowish, in subterminal panicles, emits foetid smell; male flowers: pedicels long, slender; sepals 5, ovate, pubescent; petals 5, ovate-lanceolate, reflexed; disc 10 lobed; stamens 10, inserted at the base disc; filaments shorter than anthers; anthers oblong; pistillode rudimentary; bisexual flowers: sepals, petals and disc as in male flowers; stamens 2 or 3; ovary 2-5, partite, superior, sparsely hairy, ovule 1 in each cell; style free or connate; stigmas curling. Fruit a samara, prominently veined, oblong, copper red, twisted at base.