Ash (tree)

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Ash tree
European Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
European Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Fraxinus
Tourn. ex L.
Species

See text

European Ash in flower
Narrow-leafed Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia) shoot with leaves
File:EunnnnnmmkjrAshSeeds.jpg
Closeup of European Ash seeds
19th century illustration of Manna Ash (Fraxinus ornus)

In botany, ash is the common name for any of various trees or shrubs of the genus Fraxinus of the flowering plant family Oleacea, characterized by usually opposite, pinnately compound leaves (Fraxinus anomala is an exception) and one-seeded, winged fruit. The term also is used for the wood of these plants.

There are several other genera of trees in different families with representatives popularly known as ashes. In North America, the name "mountain ash" is applied to species of the genus Sorbus, 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, Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest broadleaf tree in the world. However, "true ashes" belong to the Fraxinus genus.

Overview

The flowering plant family Oleaceae, to which Fraxinus belongs, is known the olive family. This botanical family contains 24 extant genera (and one extinct) of woody plants, including shrubs, trees, and vines. It is characterized by opposite leaves that may be simple or pinnately-compound. The calyx and corolla are four-lobed. Besides ash, other members of this family include the olive (Olea europaea), forsythia, lilacs, jasmines, privets, and fringetrees. The olive is hihgly valued for its fruit and the oil extracted from it, the ash for its tough wood, and the other mentioned plants have value as landscaping plants.

The ashes, genus Fraxinus, are usually medium to large trees and mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The leaves are typically opposite (rarely in whorls of three), and mostly pinnately-compound, although simple in a few species.

The seeds of ashes, popularly known as keys, are a type of fruit known as a samara. A samara is a type of fruit in which a flattened wing of fibrous, papery tissue develops from the ovary wall. A samara is a simple dry fruit and indehiscent (not opening along a seam). The shape of a samara enables the wind to carry the seed away from the parent tree. While the seed can either be in the center of the wing, as in the elms, in the case of the ashes (and maples) the seed is on one side, with the wing extending to the other side, making the seed spiral as it falls.

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
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 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 mandshurica 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

The emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis, a wood-boring beetle accidentally introduced to North America from eastern Asia with ash wood products in about 1998, has killed millions of trees in southeast Michigan, adjacent Ontario, and some isolated smaller areas on eastern North America. It threatens some 7 billion ash trees in North America. Ash is also used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera which 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, hurley sticks and other uses demanding high strength and resilience. It is also used as material for the bodies of guitars, known for its bright, cutting tone and sustaining quality. 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 (Chinese: Ku li bai la shu), Fraxinus chinensis ROXB. (Chinese: Bai la shu), Fraxinus szaboana English (Chinese: Jian ye bai la shu) and Fraxinus stylosa English (Chinese: su zhu bai la shu)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

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 (the first woman was made from elm). 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 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 is thought to exude a sugary substance that was fermented to create the Norse "Mead of Inspiration."[1]

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