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Whitw Ash

Fraxinus americana

Summary 6

Fraxinus americana, the white ash or American ash, is a species of ash tree native to eastern and central North America. It is found in mesophytic hardwood forests from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to northern Florida, and southwest to eastern Texas.

The name white ash derives from the powdery white undersides of the leaves. It is similar in appearance to the green ash, making identification difficult. The lower sides of the leaves of white ash are lighter in color than their upper sides, and the outer surface of the twigs of white ash may be flaky or peeling. Green ash leaves are similar in color on upper and lower sides, and twigs are smoother. White Ash leaves turn yellow or red in Autumn. The White Ash's compound leaves usually have 7 leaflets per leaf whereas other ash trees are usually more diverse.

White ash is one of the most used trees for everyday purposes and, to keep up with high demand, is cultivated almost everywhere possible. The wood is white and quite dense (within 20% of 670 kg/m3),[16] strong, and straight-grained. Its species produces an ideal, atypical dominant excurrent structured crown. It is a traditional timber of choice for production of baseball bats and tool handles. The wood is also favorable for furniture and flooring.

The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), also commonly known by the acronym EAB, is a green beetle native to Asia. In North America, the EAB is an invasive species, highly destructive to ash trees in its introduced range. The damage of this insect rivals that of chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease. The insect threatens the entire North American genus Fraxinus. Since its accidental introduction into the United States and Canada in the 1990s, and its subsequent detection in 2002, it has spread to eleven states and adjacent parts of Canada. It has killed at least 50 million ash trees so far and threatens to kill most of the ash trees throughout North America.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) plnthunter22, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by plnthunter22
  2. (c) Sarah Rae, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Sarah Rae
  3. (c) Erika Mitchell, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Erika Mitchell
  4. (c) Zack Harris, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Zack Harris
  5. (c) Kent McFarland, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/vtebird/8388423506/
  6. Adapted by Tom Pollard from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraxinus_americana

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