white ash Oleaceae Fraxinus
americana L. symbol: FRAM2
|Leaf: Opposite, pinnately compound with 7 serrate to entire leaflets that are ovate to somewhat lanceolate, 8 to 12 inches long, essentially hairless, green above and slightly paler below.
Flower: Species is dioecious; light green to purplish, both sexes lacking petals, females occuring in loose panicles, males in tighter clusters, appear after the leaves unfold.
Fruit: A one-winged, dry, flattened samara with a full, rounded, seed cavity, maturing in fall and dispersing over winter.
Twig: Stout, gray-olive-green, hairless, leaf scars round at the bottom, notched at the top, with lateral buds in the notch; terminal bud is large, brown, with leathery scales and flanked by two lateral buds.
Bark: Ashy gray to brown in color, with interlacing corky ridges forming obvious diamonds; older trees may be scaly.
Form: A large tree up to 80 feet tall that typically develops a straight, clear bole (particularly on good sites), usually with a narrow oblong crown.
Looks like: green ash
- black ash
- blue ash
| Additional Range Information:
Fraxinus americana is native to North America.
may be expanded by planting.
See states reporting white ash.
Fall Color Wood
| External Links:
Silvics of North America
USDA Plants Database
|© Copyright 2015, Virginia Tech|
Dept. of Forest Resources
and Environmental Conservation,
all rights reserved.
Photos and text by: John Seiler,
Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera,
and John Peterson