WHITE \SH 

 Fraximu amtricana I.. 



The Olive Family 

 OLEACSAI 



Habit and Habitat: The white ash is naturally one of our large 



broad-leaved trees, but in Nebraska it seldom reaches a height » 



mj: feet and a trunk diameter 15-20 inches; the few large branci 



and many slender twigs form an open, more or less pyramidal crown; 

 the general branching effect is rather coarse. Prefers the rich, moist 

 soil and well drained sites along stream courses and the deeper woods 

 upon slopes; seldom seen in dry sites. 



Leaves and Buds: Leaves opposite, pinnately compound, 8-12 inci 

 long; leaflets usually 7-9, 2-4 inches long, 1-1% inches broad, short 

 stalked, broadly oval, tapering gradually to the tip, entire or slightly 

 toothed, thick and more or less leathery, smooth, dark preen above, 

 pale beneath; petioles smooth, grooved. Winter-buds opposite, blunt, 

 bud scales dark-brown or rusty, pointed, and with a keel on the back. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers produced in late spring or early 

 summer before the leaves, borne in loose or open clusters from the shoots 

 of the previous year, staminate with a 4-lobed greenish calyx, bearing 

 2 stamens, pistillate on a different tree, with a greenish 4-lobed calyx 

 and a 2-celled ovary. Both types of flowers are greenish and inconspic- 

 uous except as the clusters may be noticeable. The fruit matures in late 

 summer and often persists upon the tree through the winter and into the 

 following summer, each fruit is a dry paddle-shaped structure, 1-2 inches 

 long, with a broad, flattened wing about Vi inch wide which is attached 

 near the tip of the elongated seed. These winged fruits, or samaras as 

 they are called, are produced in crowded, drooping, straw-colored 

 clusters. 



Bark, Twigs and Wood: The twigs are green when young but 

 gradually change to gray or light brown, and are often covered with a 

 whitish or ashen "bloom". The bark on the older branches and main 

 trunk is gray or yellowish-gray, deeply furrowed and ridged, the ridges 

 being narrow and often flattened. The wood is heavy, hard, strong. 

 coarse, tough, brown, with lighter colored sapwood, fairly durable. 



Distribution in the State: White ash occurs naturally and in 

 abundance in the forests of eastern United States. It has entered the 

 southeastern corner of Nebraska from the forests of Missouri and has 

 extended itself northward along the Missouri river and its tributaries to 

 Sarpy and Douglas counties. The species is not plentiful in any portion 

 of its range in this state, but is more frequently seen in the woods of the 

 extreme southeastern corner than anywhere else. This is the most w. 

 erly extension of this eastern tree." Map 44. 



Remarks: The white ash is probably the most desirable and popu- 

 lar of all the species of ash. It grows rapidly and is easily transplanter 

 that it is one of the commonest and best ornamental trees. It is not 

 attacked by many serious di> : it is usually clean and attractive 



and may be used very satisfactorily in a variety of landscape plans. 

 The white ash is not quite so hardy in Nebraska as some of the other 

 ashes. 



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