Vegetative diagnostic distinction between Ailanthus and Engelhardia

[Dianosaur]

Try scraping a bit of the bark of a younger twig and just lick it.  It
should be yucky and bitter if Ailanthus.  I was worried about walnut also
being bitter, but I haven't sampled it myself.
Diane

David Deutsch wrote:

> Thanks Gene and Diane for responding.
>
> The problem with leaf smell is that the Juglandaceae can have fairly
> odoriferous leaves as well (crush and smell a walnut leaf sometime). My
> tree's leaves smell of split pea soup!    ;-)
>
> As for tasting the bark, Diane, do you mean do a scraping? I'll give it
> a try.
>
> BTW, the terminal pinna is single, so perhaps I do have an Ailanthus,
> but the leaves seem to big for it to be altissima...
>
> Maybe I'll post a link to a photo on my homepage...
>
> David Deutsch
>
> In article <373ADBE3.AE629C32 at bcc.orst.edu>,
>   Gene Newcomb <newcombg at bcc.orst.edu> wrote:
> > I can only offer this as a possible suggestion. Ailanthus foliage has a
> > rank smell when crushed.
> >
> > After writing the above, I looked at Hortus Third. It confirms that is
> > the case for Ailanthus and does not mention it for Engelhardia. In
> > addition, the leaves of A. have a single pinna at the end, while E. has
> > two. Odd- vs. even-pinnate.
> >
> > Gene Newcomb
> > newcombg at bcc.orst.edu
>
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