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White Ash Fraxinus americana by John Severino
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Fraxinus americana, also known as white ash is a member of the Oleaceae (Olive Family) as well as the ash genus. The ash genus is made up of about 60 species of trees and shrubs. Sixteen are native to the United States, and four to Canada. The white ash is a large deciduous tree found mostly in the eastern United States. Its habitat consists of fertile old fields and large forest openings. It grows best on moist, well-drained soils. It is very common in mixed hardwood forests. Although the mature white ash is classified as shade intolerant, the seedlings are shade tolerant. The bark is light gray and has intersecting ridges making up a regular diamond pattern. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, tough and light brown in color. The white ash is very important to certain industries because its wood is flexible and can be used to make items such as tool handles, chair backs, sports equipment, and church pews. The white ash measures about 24-30 meters in height.
It has 5-9 leaves on a central stalk 15-25 centimeters long. Leaflets
measure 6-15 centimeters long and are oval, progressively tapering to each
end. The leaves have a dark green topside and a pale color underneath
except along the veins. The leaves change color to a bronze-purple in
autumn which makes the white ash very noticeable during that time of year.
The leaflets tend to fall one at a time during this season. |
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The buds of the white ash measure 5-14 millimeters long, wider than long. They are 4-sided, and are reddish brown in color. The twigs of the tree are heavy, shiny, purplish and hairless. The flowers are purple and the male pollen flowers and female seed flowers develop on separate trees in late spring. Most plants combine both stamen and pistil in one flower, but the ash separates the sexes so that an individual white ash tree can produce either male or female flowers. The fruits of the tree measure 2.5-5 centimeters in length. A wing encloses only the tip of the seedcase, and the wind is the seed dispersal agent. The lifespan of the white ash is typically 260 years. The white ash can tolerate minor flooding. It is very sensitive to ozone. Foliar injury has taken place in areas of high ambient ozone. The location of the white ash’s habitat makes fires infrequent. However, the tree is susceptible to top-killing caused by fires. The white ash is one of North America’s most beautiful trees. It supplies us with many everyday used wooden items. Its extravagant colors during the fall season are a must see! Written spring 2004, as a service learning project for Dr. Gary Coté's Biology 102 class at Radford University. Copyright Pathways for Radford.
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