Fraxinus americana L.
White ash, American ash
Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae |
Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
Order | Lamiales | Aromatic herbs and shrubs, including lavender, lilac, olive, jasmine, ash, teak, snapdragon, sesame, psyllium, garden sage, mint, basil, and rosemary |
Family | Oleaceae | Temperate climate shrubs, trees and a few vines, include forsythia, ash, jasmine, privet, olive, lilac, and many others |
Genus | Fraxinus | The classical Latin name for ash |
Species | americana | “Of or from America” |
About plant names...
White ash is native to eastern and central North America. It prefers rich moist (but not soggy)
deciduous and mixed forests.
Plants: Up to 131′ (40 m). Bark is light gray, and
distinctively fissured.
Leaves: Compound, 8-15″ (20-38 cm), odd pinnate,
comprised of 5-9 leaflets (usually 7). Leaflets are 3-5″ (7.6-12 cm) long, oval to somewhere
between oblong and lanceolate.
White ash is so named because the leaf undersides
are whitish, much paler than the leaf tops. Leaves turn yellow or red in the fall.
Twigs have C-shaped leaf scars.
Flowers: Trees are
mostly dioecious—male and female flowers appear on separate trees.
Clusters of small flowers appear on branch tips. Both male and female flowers are purple, and lack petals.
Flowers appear from April to May.
Fruits: Drooping clusters of winged samaras,
each up to 2″ (5 cm) long.
These are closely similar:
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6/13/2011 · Great Falls State Park, Washington, DC
6/13/2011 · Great Falls State Park, Washington, DC
9/13/2020 · Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, Maine · ≈ 10 × 6″ (24 × 16 cm)
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Leaves |
Compound, 8-15″ (20-38 cm), odd pinnate, comprised of 5-9 leaflets (usually 7). Leaflets are 3-5″ (7.6-12 cm) long, oval to somewhere between oblong and lanceolate. Leaf undersides are whitish, much paler than the leaf tops. Leaves turn yellow or red in the fall. Twigs have C-shaped leaf scars. |
Opposite, 1-2½′ (38-76 cm) long. Each leaf is odd pinnate, comprised of 5-9 leaflets. Each leaflet is 1¾-6″ long ⨉ ⅜-3½″ wide (5-15 ⨉ 1.2-9 cm). Leaves are dark green both above and below. They turn yellow in the fall. |