''Ailanthus fordii'', otherwise known as green ailanthus or evergreen ailanthus, is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

tree in the family

Simaroubaceae The Simaroubaceae, also known as the quassia family, are a small, mostly tropical, family in the order Sapindales. In recent decades, it has been subject to much taxonomic debate, with several small families being split off. A molecular phyloge ...

. It is native to the low evergreen forests of

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

History

''Ailanthus fordii'' was first discovered in Cape D'Aguilar between the years 1884 and 1886.

Description

''Ailanthus fordii'' is a

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

, evergreen tree that can grow up to tall. The branchlets are grey-brown and are densely puberulent. Odd, pinnately compound leaves are gathered at the upmost part of the branches and are 40-60 centimeters long. The petiole is long, and there are 13-27 leaflets, mostly opposite. The leaflets are oblong-ovate, and are long wide. The

buds In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or Plant embryogenesis, embryonic Shoot (botany), shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a Plant stem, stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormancy, dormant conditi ...

are inflorescence terminal, paniculate, and are 20-40 centimeters long. The

flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

can be unisexual or polygamous, and they are calyx-cup shaped. Petals are about . In female flowers, the anthers are imperfectly developed. The

samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

is long and wide. The flowering period is October to November, and the fruiting period is December to April the following year.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q11060468 fordii Flora of Hong Kong Taxa described in 1963