I get asked all the time about how to tell the invasive tree of heaven from black walnut, and also how to ID tree of heaven in the winter (which is the best time to kill it). Made a short video about it.

Hope you like it!

Anthony

I can't imagine just how you can confuse the two if you know anything about trees. Now Alianthus and sumac can throw you at first glance.

Lots of people I work with have zero tree experience and most people that don't have experience just look at leaves. A bare tree is a bare tree to them. Sumac does look a lot more like TOH, but people also don't seem as worried about killing it. Personally I would rather have the sumac from a purely wildlife and pollinator perspective. Walnuts are great for timber production but except for squirrels they aren't great for wildlife, a few cool moths do eat it.

Shear number of trees is usually a good indicator if you're looking from afar

SNIPERB - There are places around me where the walnut saplings are like weeds. I think that is one reason some people get it confused with tree of heaven. I have trouble keeping the walnuts out of my open areas, they pop up just about as fast as the black locust, tulip poplars and sweetgums in some of the fields. Plenty of big trees producing seed in the area though.

Tree of the heaven is the host tree for spotted lantern fly.

Excellent video.
A few suggestions.
Maybe make another explaining how they reproduce both by sending out shoots and by seeds from the female tree. And show the female tree laden with seeds. Explain to folks how to kill it with Tordon.

Surprised you didn't mention the smell of ailanthus? LOL. Start whacking it with a machete and you can soon smell a difference. Just my 2 cents. I actually like black walnut trees. I don't find black walnuts to be super invasive. Maybe you have better soil , Anthony T? I do hate ailanthus.

I've got black walnuts drying right now, husks drying to get ground for trap dye. Excellent plants many uses, could use the shells ground up for sand blasting just cost prohibitive

Good for fishing as well.

Yup

Yes. 1 invasive attracts another.

is the tree of heaven what we call sumac?

No Stag Horn Sumac is Native to the USA.

Tree of heaven and Ailanthus is the same tree.

But not sumac.

Thanks for the feedback. I am sure this is not my last video on TOH - there is a lot to cover about it.

No comment.LOL

Please keep up the hard work you put in these videos.