Ash

High is the key word for the ash

The Latin name of the common ash, excelsior, means higher - higher than the rest. The common ash needs light so the tree shoots up remarkably straight in dense files of trees. There are some trees measured as being 45 m in height but on average they grow to between 25 and 40 m high. The common ash is native to Europe, even in the far north and is adapted to grow in wet habitats and seeds everywhere.

By the Middle Ages the ash was being widely exploited as a coppiced tree. A coppiced ash tree can become very old, much older than a solitary tree, and can live for about 200 years. The leaves are compoundly pinnate with 3-7 pairs of opposite leaflets and one terminal leaflet. The common ash has black leaf buds. 

The leaf of the common ash is divided into leaflets. Usually the common ash is dioecious but occasionally hermaphroditic flowers do appear. The flowers are borne in axillary or terminal panicles. Pollination occurs both by the wind and by insects. The fruit is a single-seeded samara with the seed embedded in the top of an elongated wing, which once ripened hardens and is ideally suited for wind dispersal. The samaras hang together in bunches (or ash keys) and often remain on the tree for a long time.

Ashes are an important source of timber. Common ash is a ‘leaf-ash’ that is to say that it flowers before the leaves unfurl. The flowers have no petals and are thus inconspicuous. A so-called ‘flower-ash’ comes into flower quite late, when the tree is already in leaf, with petals that are usually white and striking. The differences between the types of ash are not very great. The genus Fraxinus has about 60 species, some are tropical and subtropical, the rest can be found in the northern hemisphere across all continents.