Appendices & Glossary - Botanical Research Institute of Texas

1310 APPENDIX TWENTY-ONE/COMMERCIALLY IMPORTANT TIMBER TREES OF EAST TEXAS
FRAXINUS PENNSYLVANICA Marshall GREEN ASH
(OLEACEAE, OLIVE FAMILY)
Other Common Names: RED ASH, DARLINGTON ASH, SWAMP ASH, RIVER ASH, WATER ASH
Form and Size: small to medium-size tree to 20 m; trunk tall, slender, to 0.5 m in diameter, rarely larger, may be swollen at
the base when growing in old sloughs; crown round-topped to somewhat narrowed.
Leaves: deciduous, opposite, odd-pinnately (= feather-like) compound, composed of 5–7(–9) leaflets; leaflets lanceolate to
ovate, 10–15 cm long, 1.2–3 cm wide, long pointed at the tip, entire to toothed mainly above the middle, bright green to
yellowish-green above, lighter green below but not noticeably pale (turning yellow in fall), usually gradually narrowed
basally and long-decurrent (sometimes with blade tissue to petiolule base, causing leaflet to appear sessile); petiolules
of lateral leaflets 0–7 mm long.
Buds: 3–5 mm long, broadest near the base, usually rounded at the tip, covered with 3 pairs of rust colored, overlapping
scales.
Flowers: male and female flowers produced in clusters on different trees (plants dioecious), appearing early spring before
or with the expanding new leaves, inconspicuous, lacking petals; male flowers in relatively tight clusters, each with a
tiny, cup-shaped calyx and 2 stamens; female flowers with a deeply lobed calyx and 1 pistil.
Fruits: produced in clusters, each dry, flattened, 2.5–7.5 cm long, 5–8(–9) mm wide, conspicuously winged, the wing
straight, elongate, decurrent over half way on fruit body (wing extending along body of fruit).
Bark: light brown when young, turning gray-brown to brown, sometimes with reddish tinges, developing interwoven diamond
patterns of narrow flat-topped ridges at an early age.
Wood: sapwood nearly white, wide; heartwood grayish brown, light brown, or pale yellow streaked with brown; wood
somewhat lustrous, ± straight-grained, heavy, hard; growth rings distinct; the wood is often marketed together with
that of Fraxinus americana (WHITE ASH), though that of F. pennsylvanica is not quite as straight-grained and is slightly
inferior.
Habitat: along streams, bottomland woods, depressions in savannahs, or on slopes; the species is flood tolerant.
Range: East Texas w to Rolling Plains; this is the most wide-ranging of all ashes in Texas; widespread in the eastern and
central U.S. and southern Canada. This species has the widest distributions of any native American ash.
Principal Uses: handles and baseball bats (because of strength, hardness, high shock resistance, and excellent bending
qualities; second only to hickory for such uses), furniture, especially for bent parts and chair bottoms, oars, snowshoes,
boxes, baskets, crates, pallets, kitchen cabinets, toys, woodenware, and novelties.
Historical Uses: vehicle parts––parts for truck bodies, racks, framing, and bottom boards, also tennis-racket frames, skis,
polo and hockey sticks, agricultural implements, ship and boat building materials, wood pipe.
Other Significant Information: because the species has good form and pleasing fall foliage (yellow coloration) and is resistant
to both insects and disease, it is widely used as an ornamental. The species is also being used in revegetating spoil
banks resulting from strip-mining.
Recognition in the Field: opposite, odd-pinnately compound leaves with 5–7(–9) leaflets, these usually gradually narrowed
basally and long-decurrent; petiolules short (0–7 mm long); fruit winged, with the wing decurrent over half way on
fruit body.