Resident makes concerning discovery about 'New England palm tree' spotted growing all over state

A Redditor had noticed a recurring plant across their home state and took to the community at r/Connecticut to share what they had learned about it. 

"I always see this tree throughout CT, enough times that I nicknamed it the 'new england palm tree' since it looks tropical," wrote the original poster. "Just recently found out that it's actually invasive. It's even tied directly to spotted lantern flies."  

The plant in question is called tree of heaven, or ailanthus altissima. It is not only invasive in Connecticut, but also in Illinois, France, Germany, and elsewhere.  

The tree of heaven can grow more than 10 feet each year, reaching up to 100 feet in height. They spread upward of 300,000 seeds annually and can sprout root suckers out to 50 feet from a parent tree. Worse still, they stink horribly, and, as the original poster said, act as a home for invasive spotted lantern flies. 

On top of being a nightmare to manage, invasive species pose a serious threat to ecosystems. When a plant or animal is dropped into a new environment, it becomes free of the predators that kept its population in check. In a new habitat, these species have the opportunity to outcompete native plants and animals, establishing monopolies on vital resources. 

This leads to a downturn in biodiversity and important ecosystem services that everybody depends upon. This includes humans. One estimate suggested that invasive species incur hundreds of billions of dollars' worth in economic costs around the world every year. 

The Reddit community sympathized with the original poster's worry about trees of heaven close to home. 

"Cutting them down does not kill them, it just makes 100 new trees pop up in the area," wrote one commenter. 

"I have a thicket of these in my back yard that I can NOT get rid of! Drives me nuts!" replied another. 

"I call this the tree of hell, it is ridiculous," chimed in another. "I cleared them off of the property I moved into a few years ago. I see neighbors who just let them grow out of control though."

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