Subject: April 15: Ailanthus altissima
Ailanthus altissima is a deciduous tree in the quassia family (Simaroubaceae). It is native to northeast and central China as well as Taiwan. Unlike other members of the genus Ailanthus, it is found in temperate climates rather than the tropics. The tree grows rapidly and is capable of reaching heights of 15 metres (50 ft) in 25 years. However, the species is also short-lived and rarely lives more than 50 years. A. altissima was first brought from China to Europe in the 1740s and to the United States in 1784. The plant has been spread to many other areas beyond its native range. In a number of these, it has become an invasive species due to its ability to quickly colonise disturbed areas and suppress competition with allelopathic chemicals. It is considered a noxious weed in Australia, the United States, New Zealand and several countries in southern and eastern Europe. The tree also re-sprouts vigorously when cut, making its eradication extremely difficult and time-consuming. In China, the tree of heaven has a long and rich history. It was mentioned in the oldest extant Chinese dictionary and listed in countless Chinese medical texts for its purported ability to cure ailments ranging from mental illness to balding.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailanthus_altissima
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1738: Baroque composer George Frideric Handel's Serse, an opera loosely based on Xerxes I of Persia, premiered in London. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serse)
1755: A Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson was first published. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language)
1912: The passenger liner RMS Titanic sank about two hours and forty minutes after colliding with an iceberg, killing over 1,500 people. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic)
1947: Jackie Robinson, the first African American to break the baseball color line, played his first game in Major League Baseball. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson)
1986: U.S. armed forces launched Operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Libya)
1989: The death of former Chinese General Secretary Hu Yaobang triggered a series of events that led to the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Yaobang)
_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:
feckless: Lacking purpose. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/feckless)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider-web of the finest silken threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every air-borne particle in its tissue. It is the very atmosphere of the mind; and when the mind is imaginative — much more when it happens to be that of a man of genius — it takes to itself the faintest hints of life, it converts the very pulses of the air into revelations. -- Henry James (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_James)