Ailanthus fordii

Description:

Small trees, up to 5 m tall; branchlets densely puberulent. Leaves odd-pinnate, crowded near apex of branches, 40-60 cm long; leaflets 6-13 pairs, opposite or nearly so, oblong-ovate, 7-13 cm long and 4-6 cm wide, apex shortly acuminate, base subrounded, asymmetrical, margin entire. Inflorescence terminal, paniculate, 20-40 cm long. Flowers unisexual or polygamous; calyx cup-shaped, ca. 0.5 mm long, 5-toothed; petals 5, 2-3 mm long. In female flowers anthers imperfectly developed; carpels 5; styles connate; stigma 5. Samara 3-5 cm long, 1-1.8 cm wide.

Distribution:

Cape D'Aguilar, Mount Gough, Sha Tin, Ma On Shan, Lai Chi Wo. Xishuangbanna of Yunnan Province.

Habitat and Ecology:

In lowland evergreen forest.

First discovered in Cape D'Aguilar in between 1884 and 1886, this rare species occurs exclusively and discontinuously in Hong Kong (the type locality) and southern Yunnan. It also has ornamental value. In Hong Kong many localities of occurrence are in Country Parks under adequate protection. The species has also been listed under the Forestry Regulations (Cap. 96 sub. leg.). It has been actively propagated and widely cultivated in Hong Kong as roadside trees and ornamental trees. Living specimens are planted in the Shing Mun Arboretum and a number of urban parks in Hong Kong.

References:

Nooteboom,H.P., 1962: Flora Malesiana, Ser. 1, 6: 220. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Nooteboom, H.P., 1974: Ailanthus fordii Nooteboom, an endemic species of Hong Kong refound. Memoirs of the Hong Kong Natural History Society No.9: 16-17.
陳書坤，1997: 中國植物誌43：3。科學出版社，北京。