Ash tree

Ash tree
European Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Oleaceae Genus: Fraxinus L.[1]
Species
See text

European Ash in flower

Narrow-leafed Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia) shoot with leaves

Closeup of European Ash seeds

19th century illustration of Manna Ash (Fraxinus ornus)

An ash can be any of four different tree genera from four very distinct families; most commonly in a combined form (e.g., "mountain ash"; see end of page for disambiguation), but originally and most commonly refers to trees of the genus Fraxinus (from Latin "ash tree") in the olive family Oleaceae. The ashes are usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The leaves are opposite (rarely in whorls of three), and mostly pinnately-compound, simple in a few species. The seeds, popularly known as keys or helicopter seeds, are a type of fruit known as a samara. The genus Fraxinus contains 45-65 species. The tree's common English name goes back to the Old English æsc, a word also routinely used in Old English documents to refer to spears made of ash wood.

Selected species

Ashes of eastern North America

• Fraxinus americana White Ash (also called cane ash, Biltmore ash or Biltmore white ash)
• Fraxinus caroliniana Water Ash
• Fraxinus nigra Black Ash (also called swamp ash, basket ash, brown ash, hoop ash, or water ash)
• Fraxinus pennsylvanica Green Ash (also called red ash, swamp ash or water ash)
• Fraxinus profunda (syn. F. tomentosa) Pumpkin Ash (also called red ash)
• Fraxinus quadrangulata Blue Ash
• Fraxinus tremillium Indigo Ash

Ashes of western and southwestern North America

• Fraxinus anomala Single-leaf Ash
• Fraxinus cuspidata Fragrant Ash
• Fraxinus dipetala California Ash or Two-petal Ash
• Fraxinus dubia
• Fraxinus gooddingii Goodding's Ash
• Fraxinus greggii Gregg's Ash
• Fraxinus latifolia Oregon Ash
• Fraxinus lowellii Lowell Ash
• Fraxinus papillosa Chihuahua Ash
• Fraxinus purpusii
• Fraxinus rufescens
• Fraxinus texensis Mountain Ash or Texas Ash
• Fraxinus uhdei Shamel Ash or Tropical Ash
• Fraxinus velutina Velvet Ash

Ashes of the Western Palearctic (Europe, north Africa and southwest Asia)

• Fraxinus angustifolia Narrow-leafed Ash
  • Fraxinus angustifolia var. oxycarpa (syn. F. oxycarpa) Caucasian Ash
• Fraxinus excelsior European Ash
• Fraxinus holotricha
• Fraxinus ornus Manna Ash or Flowering Ash
• Fraxinus syriaca
• Fraxinus pallisiae Pallis' Ash

Ashes of the Eastern Palearctic (central & eastern Asia)

• Fraxinus apertisquamifera
• Fraxinus baroniana
• Fraxinus bungeana Bunge's Ash
• Fraxinus chinensis Chinese Ash or Korean Ash
• Fraxinus chiisanensis
• Fraxinus floribunda Himalayan Manna Ash
• Fraxinus griffithii Griffith's Ash
• Fraxinus hubeiensis
• Fraxinus japonica Japanese Ash
• Fraxinus lanuginosa
• Fraxinus longicuspis
• Fraxinus malacophylla
• Fraxinus mandschurica Manchurian Ash
• Fraxinus mariesii Chinese Flowering Ash
• Fraxinus micrantha
• Fraxinus paxiana
• Fraxinus platypoda
• Fraxinus raibocarpa
• Fraxinus sieboldiana Japanese Flowering Ash
• Fraxinus spaethiana Späth's Ash
• Fraxinus trifoliata
• Fraxinus xanthoxyloides Afghan Ash

Threats

Canker on an Ash tree in North Ayrshire, Scotland

The emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis, a wood-boring beetle accidentally introduced to North America from eastern Asia with ash wood products circa 1998, has killed millions of trees in the Midwestern US and adjacent Ontario, and some isolated smaller areas on eastern North America. It threatens some 7 billion ash trees in North America. The public is being cautioned not to transport unfinished wood products, such as firewood, to slow the spread of this insect pest.

Ash is also used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species (butterflies and moths) -- see list of Lepidoptera that feed on ashes.

Uses

The wood is hard (a hardwood), tough and very strong but elastic, extensively used for making bows, tool handles, quality wooden baseball bats, hurleys and other uses demanding high strength and resilience.

It is also often used as material for electric guitar bodies and, less commonly, for acoustic guitar bodies, known for its bright, cutting tone and sustaining quality. They are also used for making drums shells.

Ash veneers are extensively used in office furniture. It also makes excellent firewood. The two most economically important species for wood production are White Ash in eastern North America, and European Ash in Europe. The Green Ash is widely planted as a street tree in the United States. The inner bark of the Blue Ash has been used as a source for a blue dye. The cortex (bark) of Fraxinus rhynchophylla HANCE (simplified Chinese: 苦枥白蜡树; traditional Chinese: 苦櫪白蠟樹; pinyin: kǔlì báilàshù), Fraxinus chinensis ROXB. (simplified Chinese: 白蜡树; traditional Chinese: 白蠟樹; pinyin: Báilàshù), Fraxinus szaboana English (simplified Chinese: 尖叶白蜡树; traditional Chinese: 尖葉白蠟樹; pinyin: jiānyè báilàshù) and Fraxinus stylosa English (simplified Chinese: 宿柱白蜡树; traditional Chinese: 宿柱白蠟樹; pinyin: sùzhù báilàshù) are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for diarrhea, dysenteric disorder, and vaginal discharge. It is also good for the eyes where there is symptoms of redness, swelling, and pain. The dosage is 6-12 grams.

Cultural aspects

Unusual 'Treelets' growing from a fallen Ash tree in Lawthorn wood, Ayrshire, Scotland

In Norse mythology, the World Tree Yggdrasil is commonly held to be an ash tree, and the first man, Ask, was formed from an ash tree. Elsewhere in Europe, snakes were said to be repelled by ash leaves or a circle drawn by an ash branch. Irish folklore claims that shadows from an ash tree would damage crops. In Cheshire, it is said that ash could be used to cure warts or rickets. See also the letter ash.

In Greek mythology, the Meliai were nymphs of the ash, perhaps specifically of the Manna Ash (Fraxinus ornus), as dryads were nymphs of the oak. Many echoes of archaic Hellene rites and myth involve ash trees.

The ash exudes a sugary substance that, it has been suggested, was fermented to create the Norse "Mead of Inspiration."[1]

Other name uses (Green Tree)

In North America, the name "Mountain ash" is applied to species the genus Sorbus, more commonly known in the UK as Rowans and Whitebeams, and the name "Prickly ash" is applied to Zanthoxylum americanum and other Zanthoxylums, all in the family Rutaceae, the rue and citrus family. In Australia, many common eucalyptus species are called ash because they too produce hard, fine-grained timber. The best known of these is the Mountain Ash, the tallest broadleaf tree in the world.

References

See also

• List of Lepidoptera that feed on ashes