Fraxinus americana Marsh.

author: Jenny Janis

e-mail address: janis@arches.uga.edu

Higher Taxon:

The following is according to Cronquist's system.
Mabberley, D.J., 1987

common names:


(Collingwood et al., 1974)

Identification: Carl Linnaeus (1708-1778), a Swedish botanist and physician, first described F. americana in the book Species Plantarum.Stafleau et al., 1981 Exactly where the specimens were collected and their current location was not found. The White Ash ranges from medium to large in size, often standing over 80 feet in height with a diameter of 2-3 feet.Brown et al., 1990 The leaves are "8-12 inches long; 5-9 (mostly 7) leaflets, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 3-5 inches long, entire or obscurely toothed, dark-green above and paler and usually glabrous below, petiolules 1/4-1/2 inche long."Preston, R., 1976 The flowers are dioecious and u sually appear before the leaves. C.S Sargent described the flowers in 1965 as "compact ultimately elongated glabrous panicles from buds covered with dark ovate scales rounded at apex and slightly keeled on the back; clayx campanulate, slightly 4-lobed in the staminate flower, and deeply lobed or laciniately cut in the pistillate flower: stamens 2 or occasionally 3, with short stout filaments, and large oblong-ovate apiculate anthers at first nearly black, later becoming reddish purple, ovary contracted i nto a long slender style divided into 2 spreading dark purple stigmatic lobes."Sargent, C.S., 1965 The samara shapedfruit by mid-summer is 1-2 inches long. It persists into winter on the twigs.Preston, R., 1976 The twigs are grayish-green, stout, rounded with narrow and deeply notched leaf scars. There are also numerous bundle scars.Brown et al., 1990 The bark is "gray, th ick, rough, becoming deeply and narrowly fissured with forking, interlacing ridges forming a somewhat diamond-shaped pattern."Brown et al., 1990

Photos of White Ash by Jenny Janis- taken at High Meadows Summer Camp in Roswell, Georgia.

Geography: The White Ash range extends from Nova Scotia to Maine. Then it goes west to Minnesota and south to Texas and Florida.(Collingwood et al., 1974)

Table I: North American Distribution of F. americana

Fraxinus americana

AREA STATUS REFERENCES
North America:
Continental United States; Canada		 Yes (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Eastern North America:
United States east of Mississippi;
Ontario and eastern Canada		 Yes (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Southeastern United States:
AL AR DE DC FL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV		 Yes (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Southern Appalachian States:
AL GA KY MD NC SC TN VA WV		 Yes (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Coastal Plain rare Jones et al. 1988
Piedmont Widespread (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Blue Ridge Mountains rare (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Yes (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Ridge and Valley Yes (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Cumberland Plateau Yes (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Central Arch yes (Collingwood et al., 1974)
Georgia common Jones et al. 1988
Clarke County, Georgia common Jones et al. 1988
Sams Farm no Jenny Janis, Pers. Ob.
Old Field no Jenny Janis, Pers. Ob.
Wetland no Jenny Janis, Pers. Ob.
Woods no Jenny Janis, Pers. Ob.
1-Hectare Plot no Jenny Janis, Pers. Ob.


Natural History: This species is found in moist, rich, well-drained soils. It is not highly sensitive to its environment as shown by its large geographical range. The leaves fall off in the winter, but the fruit has been known to cling onto the twigs after the leaves are gone. The White Ash is not usually in pure stands, but can be found growing singularly. Collingwood notes that it grows in association with trees like Hemlock, White Pine, and Spruce. (Collingwood et al., 1974) Rapid growth makes this species valuable in the timber industry. It is also used to make furniture, baseball bats, railroad ties and fuel. When grown in an open area, a large crown develops creating excellent shade.Brown et al., 1990 It is also the most common species of Fraxinus used in landscaping.

How to encounter: I did not see any of this species at Sam's farm, but the Green and White Ash are hard to distinguish from each other. I did find it at High Meadows Summer Camp in Roswell Georgia. It grows in the woods near the Hig h Meadows's pool. There are lots of pine surrounding the specimens I photographed. The spring and summer would be the best time to try to find it because it loses its leaves in the fall and winter.

References:

  1. Brown, C. & Kirkman, K. 1990. Trees of Georgia and Adjacent States. Timber Press, Inc. Portland, Oregon.

  2. Collingwood, G.H. & Brush, W. 1974. Knowing Your Trees. The American Forestry Association. Washington, D.C..

  3. Jones, Samuel & Coile, Nancy. 1988. Distribution of the Vascular Flora of Georgia. Deptartment of Botany. University of Georgia. Athens, GA.

  4. Mabberley, D.J., 1987. The Plant Book: A portable dictionary of the higher plants. Cambridge University Press. New York, N.Y.

  5. Preston, R. 1976. North American Trees. The Iowa State University Press. U.S.A.

  6. Sargent, C.S. 1965. Manual of the Trees of North America. Dover publications. New York, N.Y.

  7. Stafleu, Frans & Cowan, Richard. 1981. Taxonomic Literature. v3. International Association for Plant Taxonomy. Boston, MA.