{"id":71,"date":"2015-10-27T14:36:27","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T14:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/canopy\/?page_id=71"},"modified":"2019-12-03T19:54:44","modified_gmt":"2019-12-03T19:54:44","slug":"green-ash","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/canopy\/species\/green-ash\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Ash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fraxinus pennsylvanica\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>| Family: Oleaceae<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Submission: Lars Gundersen ’20 and Ronni Mak ’20<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Identification<\/u><\/strong>:<\/u><\/p>\n

Leaves \u2013 <\/strong>Similar to Fraxinus americana<\/em>, but leaflets often narrower and always with some serration; opposite, deciduous, pinnately compound with 7-9 3-4\u201d leaflets; ovate with smooth margin; more or less petioled.<\/p>\n

Twigs and Bud \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Similar to Fraxinus americana<\/em>, but more or less pubescent, with leaf scar shallowly notched to truncate; first pair of lateral buds about at the same level as terminal bud; slender, grey to greenish brown twigs, with a pointed bud at the tip.<\/p>\n

Fruit and Cone \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Similar to Fraxinus americana, <\/em>but generally narrower; dioecious spring flowers; fruit 1-2\u201d narrow samara which matures in the fall; wing often pointed at apex, and enclosing \u00bd of seed cavity.<\/p>\n

Bark \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Scaly on young trees; becoming similar to Fraxinus americana<\/em>; ashy-gray; divided into shallow furrows shaped into diamond patterns.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Natural History:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Important as an urban shade tree, renowned for its excellent bending qualities for use in tools and baseball bats, and famed for its adaptability and drought tolerance, green ash is an important tree found throughout the eastern and central United States.\u00a0 A member of the Oleaceae (olive) family, green ash is intolerant to moderately tolerant of shade competition and very tolerant of drought, due to its substantial root system.\u00a0 Trees can grow up to 40 feet (12 meters) tall and can have root systems which grow out more than 50 feet (15 meters) and down 3-4 feet (91-122 cm).\u00a0 Green ash trees typically live for 100-120 years.\u00a0 The species is most common in bottomlands in the Mississippi basin, but can survive dry, windswept sites as far southwest as Texas and Oklahoma, cold sites from Alberta to New Brunswick, and urban sites in eastern and midwestern cities.\u00a0 In Maine, it is mostly planted as an ornamental outside southern and coastal regions.\u00a0 In addition to being the most widely-distributed ash and a common ornamental, green ash is a pioneer in the alluvial soils of the great plains bottomlands, where it is commonly found with cottonwood (Populus deltoides<\/em>), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides<\/em>), and black willow (Salix nigra<\/em>).\u00a0 However, it is often quickly shaded out by more rapidly-growing species like red maple (Acer rubrum<\/em>) and American elm (Ulmus americana<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Native Americans commonly used green ash for bows and arrow shafts because of its strength, hardness, high shock resistance, and excellent bending qualities.\u00a0 Today, it is frequently used for tool handles and baseball bats, even though white ash is more desirable because of its straighter grain.\u00a0 Flooring, millwork, boxes, crates, and other turned objects are commonly made from green ash as well.\u00a0 Generally, the least diseased and most adaptable ash species, it is a very popular shade tree in residential areas, though issues with seed litter, surface roots, and storm damage are common.\u00a0 Green ash is also used extensively as a windbreak tree due to its drought tolerance.\u00a0 Many birds and animals utilize green ash seeds as a food source.<\/p>\n

Despite its adaptability, drought-tolerance, and general health as a species, green ash trees face several threats.\u00a0 Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis<\/em>), a destructive pest from Asia, poses perhaps the greatest threat to North American ash trees.\u00a0 The metallic wood-boring beetle targets all native ash species and has no natural enemies outside Asia.\u00a0 The ash borer damages the stems of trees of all sizes by feeding on ash bark and laying eggs within trees.\u00a0 In most cases, an Emerald Ash Borer infestation is fatal.\u00a0 Ash borers are spreading rapidly and are expected to have large and growing impacts in Maine within the next few years.\u00a0 Several other diseases pose less-existential threats: Oystershell scale (Lepidosaphes u1mi<\/em>) which is found across the Northeastern US and can cause damage to young green ash trees, and carpenterworm (Prionoxystus robiniae<\/em>) which bores into the heartwood and allows fungi to enter.\u00a0 One of the most harmful fungi is Mycosphaerella fraxinicola<\/em>, which creates a leaf spot and causes premature defoliation of young trees.\u00a0 Young trees are also a popular food source for deer and rabbits, which causes high sapling mortality.\u00a0 Given these threats and its relatively anonymous presence in the tree lexicon of most Americans, the future of the green ash is far from certain; but the adaptability and drought tolerance it has developed over millennia and across a wide range of sites give it the ability to weather other threats like climate change. If it can survive the Emerald Ash Borer, it is likely to flourish for generations to come.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/u><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Kennedy, Harvey E., Jr.\u00a0 \u201cFraxinus pennsylvanica<\/em>.\u201d Silvics of North America<\/em>. Accessed Nov. 10, 2019. https:\/\/www.srs.fs.usda.gov\/pubs\/misc\/ag_654\/volume_2\/fraxinus\/pennsylvanica.htm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry. n.d. \u201cGreen Ash.\u201d Accessed 10 November, 2019. http:\/\/forestry.ohiodnr.gov\/greenash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shane, J. 2004. Dendrology Handbook, University of Vermont, Unpublished.<\/p>\n

South Dakota Department of Agriculture. n.d. \u201cGreen Ash.\u201d Accessed 10 November, 2019. https:\/\/www3.northern.edu\/natsource\/TREESA1\/Greena1.htm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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