Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin

GREEN ASH

(Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.)


Green ash

OLIVE FAMILY (Oleaceae)

IND. STATUS: FACW

FIELD CHARACTERISTICS: A deciduous tree growing to a height of 25 m. Leaves are opposite and compound. The leaflets number 5-9 (usually 7) and are toothed, slightly petioled and 4-5 cm. long. The leaf scars are in a half circle. Branches are smooth and round, or nearly so. The bark is furrowed in a very tight, regular diamond pattern of crisscrossing ridges. Fruit is a wedgeshaped samara with a round or somewhat round body and a flat wing. In flower during April and May.

ECOLOGICAL NOTES: Green ash is commonly associated with floodplain forests and, to a much lesser extent, hardwood swamps. However, it is also found in rich upland habitats. Green ash is frequently used for landscaping purposes.

SOURCE: Gleason and Cronquist (1991); Petrides (1972); and Swink and Wilhelm (1994).


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