Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica var. lanceolata)

Form

Height 50 to 60 feet, diameter 2 feet or more; stout, upright, branches forming a rounded crown.

Bark

About 1/2 inch thick; dark brown or gray, tinged with red; furrowed with flat, scaly ridges.

Leaf

Length 10 to 12 inches; compound, and opposite on stem; each compound leaf has from seven to nine stalked leaflets; leaflets 3-5 inches long with apex pointed and slightly toothed on margin; differs from white ash in having leaf scars that are semi-circular to crescent shaped, extending to base of new bud.

Fruit

A samara, borne in clusters on tree; length 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 inches, width 1/4 to 1/3 inches, with winged portion extending well down past middle of flattened seed-bearing part; wing slightly notched at apex, seeds mature in fall of first year.

Range

Common throughout state, usually found along stream banks, floodplains, and wet upland sites. It may form pure stands or grow in association with box elder and red maple.

Wood

Heavy, hard, rather strong, brittle, coarse grained; light brown, with broad layer of lighter sapwood; commercially valuable and used for the same purposes as those of the white ash; also used extensively for ornamental plantings.