White Ash
Fraxinus americana L.

Mature Size: Commonly 70 to 80 feet in height and 2 feet in diameter.

Form: Straight, clear trunk and oblong crown.

Habitat: Grows best on rich, moist, well-drained soils.

Leaves

Opposite, pinnately compound, 8 to 12 inches long, with 7 toothed or smooth-edged, 3 to 5 inch, oval to lance-shaped leaflets, green above and paler below.

Flowers

Males and females usually on separate trees; light green to purplish, lacking petals, females in long, loose clusters, males in tighter clusters, both appearing after the new leaves in spring.

Fruit

1 to 2 inches long, single-winged, flattened but with a rounded seed cavity, in crowded 6 to 8 inch clusters.

Bark

Ashy gray to brown, with interlacing corky ridges forming obvious diamonds; may be scaly on older trees.

Twigs

Thick, gray to olive-green, hairless, leaf scars round at the bottom, notched at the top, with buds in the notch; end bud large, brown, with leathery scales, flanked by two side buds.

Values and Uses

The wood is tough, elastic, and shock resistant, with a pleasing grain. It is used for tool handles, baseball bats, oars, furniture and interior finish. Birds and wildlife eat the seeds; beavers and rabbits eat the bark. White ash is planted as a shade tree and sometimes to prevent soil erosion.

Did You Know?

Juice from ash leaves has been used as a folk remedy, said to reduce the itching of mosquito bites.