Ailanthus altissima

Ailanthus altissima /eɪˈlænθəs ælˈtɪsᵻmə/, commonly known as tree of heaven, ailanthus, or in Standard Chinese as chouchun (Chinese: 臭椿; pinyin: chòuchūn; literally: "foul smelling tree"), is a deciduous tree in the Simaroubaceae family. It is native to both 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 (49 ft) in 25 years. However, the species is also short lived and rarely lives more than 50 years, though its remarkable suckering ability makes it possible for this tree to clone itself indefinitely and live considerably longer (since they are linked to the mother tree and thus partly fed by it, the suckers are less vulnerable than the seedlings and can grow faster).

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 baldness. The roots, leaves and bark are still used today in traditional Chinese medicine, primarily as an astringent. The tree has been grown extensively both in China and abroad as a host plant for the ailanthus silkmoth, a moth involved in silk production. Ailanthus has become a part of western culture as well, with the tree serving as the central metaphor and subject matter of the best-selling American novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

Tree of Heaven (TV series)

Tree of Heaven (Hangul: 천국의 나무; RR: Cheon-guk-ui Na-mu) is a 2006 South Korean-Japanese series starring Park Shin-hye and Lee Wan. It aired on SBS from February 8 to March 9, 2006 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 10 episodes. The drama is also the final entry in director Lee Jang-soo's Heaven Trilogy which included Beautiful Days in 2001 and Stairway to Heaven in 2003.

Also known as Tengoku no ki (天国の樹), the series was filmed completely in Japan and featured a cast of both Korean and Japanese actors.

Plot

Bright and optimistic Japanese Korean teenager Hana (Park Shin-hye) lives at a small hot springs inn owned by her mother. When her mother decides to marry a Korean man, she tries her best to reach out to her odd, introverted stepbrother-to-be Yoon Seo (Lee Wan), who likes to walk barefoot in the snow. He rebuffs her initial efforts, but her cheer eventually wins him over. With their parents on honeymoon, together Hana and Yoon Seo stand up to Hana's spiteful aunt Yoko (Kim Chung) and cousin Maya (Asami Reina), and the two develop an increasingly close relationship over time. Yoon Seo is forward in his love for Hana, but despite feeling the same way, she is unwilling to break the taboo of a romance between step-siblings. After graduating high school, she leaves for Tokyo with her admirer Fujiwara Ryu (Asahi Uchida), and loses contact with Yoon Seo. 2 years later, Hana, Yoon Seo, and Maya meet again. Time has led them down very different roads, but the love and the rivalry remain the same.