Calle Ailanto
Takes its name from the tree of heaven, the ailanthus that arrived from China in the 18th century and is now one of the most common trees in cities.
The tree of heaven is native to China and reached Europe in the mid-18th century, when a French Jesuit living in Beijing sent its seeds to France. From there it spread through gardens and avenues until it became one of the most common —and most invasive— trees in cities, able to sprout through asphalt.
Its name captures that reach for height. Ailanthus comes from a word from the Molucca Islands meaning “tree of heaven,” for the speed with which it rises.
Calle Ailanto takes up that botanical name in the heart of the Almenara neighborhood, in an area where the street map filled with plant names. No record survives of why it was chosen. The tree remains: the one that grows unbidden in Madrid’s empty lots and ends up naming the street it leans over.