Green Ash, Red Ash, Mexican ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Family: Oleaceae

What it is like

A medium sized tree. It grows to 21 m high. It spreads to a similar width. The trunk can be 60 cm across. The bark is greyish brown and often tinged with red on young branches. The leaves are green and divided into 5-9 leaflets. These are sometimes hairy. The leaflets are 10-15 cm long. They are oval but taper towards the point. They have teeth above the middle. The upper surface is yellowish-green and it is paler and hairy underneath. Leaves turn yellowish-brown in autumn. The leaf stalks are hairy with 2 narrow green wings. The buds are reddish brown. The flowers are of separate sexes on separate trees. The flower stalks are densely hairy. The fruit are 3-6 cm long. The wing encloses over one half of the seedcase.

There are about 65 Fraxinus species.

Where it is found

It is native to North America. Temperate. It does best with a moist soil. It often grows in the bottoms of river valleys. It can tolerate some shade. It can stand many weeks of flooding when dormant. In East Africa it grows between 1,500-2,800 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 4-10. Arboretum Tasmania.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Argentina, Australia, Canada, East Africa, Korea, North America, South America, Tanzania, Tasmania, Uruguay, USA

How it is used for food

The soft inner bark is scraped and cooked and eaten.

Edible parts

Bark

How it is grown

Seed can lie dormant in the soil for several years before germinating.

It is a fast growing tree. It lives for 100 years. It produces abundant seed crops almost every year.

Its other names

Local names

Synonyms

Fraxinus lanceolata;