Trees of New York State 333 



OLEACEAE 



Fraxinus nigra Marsh. [Fraxinus sambucifolia Lam.] 



Black Ash 



Habit — Generally a medium-sized tree 40-70 feet in height with a trunk 

 diameter of 1-1% feet, under optimum conditions occasionally 80-90 feet 

 tall with a diameter of 30 inches. Trunk tall, slender, bearing a high, 

 narrow, shallow crown of numerous, ascending branches. In the open 

 the tree is usually shorter A\'ith a round-topped cro\\Ti which extends 

 nearly to the ground. 



Leaves — Opposite, odd-pinnately compound, 10-16 inches long, borne on 

 stout palo petioles, consisting of 7-11 leaflets sessile and arranged in pairs 

 along the rachis except for the stalked terminal one. Leaflets oblong- 

 lanceolate, 3-5 inches long, acute at the apex, unequally cuneate or 

 rounded at the base, remotely serrate, at maturity thin, dark green and 

 glabrous above, paler and glabrous below aside from tufts of rufous hairs 

 along the midrib. 



Flowers — ■ Appearing in IVIay before the leaves, polygamous the staminate in 

 dense, dark purplish clusters, the pistillate in elongate, rather open pani- 

 cles. Perianth wanting. Stamens 2, mth large, oblong, apiculate, dark 

 purple anthers and short filaments. Pistil consisting of an ovate, gla- 

 brous ovary which gradually narrows above into a slender style bifur- 

 cated at the apex into broad, purple stigmas. Two stamens or staminodia 

 are usually inserted below the pistil. 



Fruit — A lanceolate-oblong or linear-oblong, light brown samara, 1-2 inches 

 long, consisting of a basal terete or somewhat flattened, seed-bearing por- 

 tion terminated above by a conspicuously notched wing. The samaras 

 are borne in open panicles and mature in early autumn. 



Winter characters — Tvi-igs stout, glabrous, ashy-gray or pale orange, marked 

 by conspicuous, scattered lenticels and large, suborbicular leaf-scars. 

 Terminal bud ovate, acute, black, i/4-% of an inch long. Lateral buds 

 broadly ovate, acute, dark brownish black and slightly puberulous, much 

 smaller than the terminal bud. Visible bud-scales 1-2 pairs. Mature 

 bark thin, ashy-gray to nearly black, divided by shallow anastomosing 

 fissures into narrow, scaly and somewhat corky ridges. 



Habitat — In low, wet woods on bottom-lands or along sluggish rivers, at 

 higher elevations along cold, mountain streams and in deep, poorly 

 drained swamps. 



Range — Southern jSTewfoundland westward through Canada and the northern 

 border states to Manitoba and North Dakota, southward at higher eleva- 

 tions to Virginia and Arkansas. Zones A, B, C, and D. 



Uses — Wood heavj-, rather soft and weak, tough, coarse-grained, durable, 

 dark brown with thin, paler sapwood. Because of its toughness the wood 

 is used for hoops, chair bottoms, baskets, and for interior finish in houses. 

 This species is occasionally grown ornamentally in swampy situations but 

 is not to be recommended for this purpose. 



