Habitat

• native to China
• widely naturalized in the eastern United States
• hardy to zone 4
• Special Note: This species has demonstrated an invasive tendency in Connecticut, meaning it may escape from cultivation and naturalize in minimally managed areas. For more information, .

Habit and Form

• medium-sized shade tree
• deciduous
• upright, spreading and open; few, coarse branches
• 40' to 60' tall and nearly as wide
• very fast growing (3' to 5' per year)
• coarse texture

Summer Foliage

• alternate, pinnately compound, 18" to 24" long, with up to 25 leaflets
• dark green
• a tropical-looking leaf

Autumn Foliage

• none

Flowers

• blooms in early to mid-June
• 8" to 16" panicles of inconspicuous yellowish flowers
• dioecious; male flowers malodorous

Fruit

• samara, 1.5" long, on female trees
• yellowish to bright red, turning brown when ripe
• wing of fruit is twisted, enabling samara to spin rapidly when falling
• fruit clusters persist and offer interest in late summer through winter

Bark

• pale gray and smooth, with lighter, vertical streaks

Culture

• adaptable to the most disagreeable conditions (salt, pollution, poor soil, heat, drought)

Landscape Use

• useful in urban settings where trees won't normally grow
• may be useful at seaside or roadside sites, due to its salt tolerance
• old, established trees have a unique exotic appearance due to massive trunks and tropical-looking foliage

Liabilities

• prolific fruiting, ready germination, adaptability to harsh sites and rapid growth rate make it a noxious weed in many places
• short-lived, in general
• male flowers, bruised twigs and crushed leaves have an acrid odor
• weak, softwood breaks easily in storms
• verticillium wilt

ID Features

• very large, pinnately compound leaves with many leaflets
• general acrid odor to plant (male flowers, leaves, twigs)
• twigs short, reddish-brown, velvety
• large leaf scars with small, two-scaled buds
• light brown, wide pith

Propagation

• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

• some exist, but are not commonly available
• selections for fruiting (female) forms and more pendulous branching
• good male selection would prove to useful and non-weedy