White Ash - Fraxinus americana

Oleaceae - Oilve Family
"A Year With the Trees" - Tree Number 65
White Ash
Fraxinus americana

Spring

White Ash Tree
Fraxinus americana

The leaves are opposite, with 5-9 compound leaflets. The leaves are entire or slightly toothed. The tree usually grows up to 80 feet and 2-3 feet in diameter.

Summer

The White Ash Tree

The "keys"are 1-2 inches long; they are brownish now in the summer with a narrow wing that hang in clusters. Each key contains one seed. These previous year's keys stay on the tree through the winter and will fall when spring comes. I have read about people making pickled ash keys for their salads that are delicious.

The Ash tree has an interesting sex life. It may be male one year and female the next. It may also grow the female flowers on part of the tree and the male flowers on another part of the tree. It does take at least 30 years for the trees to start producing the flowers. These tree can live up to 250 years.

There is a Emerald Ash Borer insect that has been killing the Ash trees in the Northern and Midwest regions of the United States. This beetle is native to Asia. The larvae of this beetle burrow into the bark of the Ash tree causing the tree to starve and then die. 40 million Ash Trees have died since 2002 due to this beetle infestation in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and other parts of the United States and Canada. There are several treatment programs that have been helpful. Treatment program research is till underway.

There is a National Ash Seed Collection Initiative in Ft. Collins, Colorado, that is collecting, freezing, and storing the seeds for future research and development if this becomes necessary.

Fall 

The White Ash Tree in October

This White Ash tree lives by my house in Asheville.  It is starting to change to it's fall colors.

Winter

The White Ash Tree

The limbs and twigs and leaves all grow opposite each other. The trunks of this tree are usually very straight and tall. The bark is tight and uniform; the color is light brown to dark brown in older trees. The older trees develop a bark with diamond-shaped ridges.

The Champion
White Ash Trees

The Champion White Ash lives in Morris, New Jersey. It is 115 feet tall and has a circumference of 255 inches. You can read more at https://www.americanforests.org/big-trees/white-ash-fraxinus-americana-2/


The Champion North Carolina Tree lives in Forsyth County and is 100 feet tall and has a circumference of 206 inches.  You can read more at http://ncforestservice.gov/urban/nc_champion_big_trees_database_search.asp

My favorite White Ash Tree

My favorite White Ash lives besides my house.  I will be seeking another favorite one that lives in a public park or nature center.  
For the love of the trees,
Becky

This is a page from my journal on a fall day.