OLEACEAE 
Red Ash 
Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh. [Fraxinus pubescens Lam.] 
HABIT.—A medium-sized tree 30-50 feet high, with a trunk 
diameter of 1-2 feet; stout, upright branches and slender branch- 
lets form a compact, broad, irregular crown. 
LEAVES.—Opposite, pinnately compound, 10-12 inches long. 
Leaflets 7-9, 3-5 inches long, 1-1%4 inches broad; short-stalked;; 
oblong-lanceolate to ovate; slightly serrate or entire; thin and 
firm; glabrous, yellow-green above, pale and silky-downy be- 
neath. Petioles stout, pubescent. 
FLOWERS.—May, with the leaves; dioecious; borne in 
compact, downy panicles on shoots of the previous season; calyx 
cup-shaped, 4-toothed; corolla 0; stamens 2, rarely 3; ovary 2- 
celled. 
FRUIT.—Early autumn, persistent on the branches through- 
out the winter; samaras 1-2 inches long, in open, paniculate 
clusters. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Small, rounded; bud-scales rounded on 
the back, 3 pairs, rusty brown, tomentose. 
BARK.—Twigs pale pubescent at first, lasting 2-3 years or 
often disappearing during the first summer, finally ashy gray or 
brownish and often covered with a glaucous bloom; brown or 
dark gray on the trunk, with many longitudinal, shallow furrows; 
somewhat scaly. 
WOOD.—Heavy, hard, strong, brittle, coarse-grained, light 
brown, with thick, yellow-streaked sapwood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Not a common tree. Most frequent in 
the southern half of the Lower Peninsula, but has been reported 
further north, i. e., Drummond’s Island and Keweenaw County, 
Upper Peninsula. 
HABITAT.—Prefers wet or moist, rich loam; river-banks; 
swampy lowlands. 
NOTES.—A rapid grower in youth. Fairly immune from 
insect and fungous diseases. 
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