TREE OF HEAVEN IN THE SUPERFUND

The invasive Ailanthus altissima. Once you learn to identify them you can’t stop seeing them. Its fast growth led it to be extensively used as a street tree in the 19th century, creating a wonderful habitat for the later infestation of spotted lantern flies who favor it as host. 

“There's a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. It grows in boarded up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps. It grows up out of cellar gratings. It is the only tree that grows out of cement. It grows lushly...survives without sun, water, and seemingly earth. It would be considered beautiful except that there are too many of it.”

— A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Introduction

Gowanus, 2020