White Ash Fraxinus americana

White Ash Fraxinus americana (L.)

Leaves-

	The leaves are opposite and pinnately compound with anywhere from five to nine leaflets.
	They are lance-shaped, and most of the time curled, with a pointed tip.
	The leaves grow to be five inches across, and only being two and one half inches wide.
	The leaves have a distinct green top, with a lighter, hairy underside.

Stem-

	The stems are skinny and gray or brown.
	They sometimes have a small amount of hair.
	The leaf scars are opposite, horseshoe-shaped, with many bundle traces forming a half-moon.

Bark-

	The bark is light or dark gray.
	It has diamond shaped furrows between flat-topped, sometimes scaly, ridges.

Flower-

	The staminate (male tree) and pistillate (female tree) are located on separate trees entirely.
	They then begin to widen out, minute, with no petals, purplish, in bunched clusters, soon getting longer and less crowded.

Fruit or Seed-

They are paddle-shaped, having wings, up to 2.5 inches long and .25 inches wide, and are bunched in a cluster with one seed at a base.

Form-

	The white ash is a big tree, being up to 100 feet tall.
	The trunk width is up to four feet.
	The crown of the tree is pyramidal or ovoid, with skinny branches.
	The trunk is straight, and columnar.

Distribution-

The white ash is located on the bottomlands and wooded slopes of anywhere from Nova Scotia to Minnesota, and as far south as Texas and Florida.

Discussion-

The white ash is used in furniture, baseball bats, tool handles, interior finishing, tennis rackets, oars, and polo mallets.

Location- Cumberland High School, 1496 IL route 121, Toledo, IL 62468

-GPS Coordinates: Location- N 39º 15.491'

W 088º 11.636'

Elevation- 593 feet

Distance- 138.43 feet

Bearing- NW

References-

	Mohlenbrock, Robert H. Forest Trees of Illinois. 8th ed. Illinois Department of Resources.
	USDA Forest Service. Fraxinus americana.n.d. 28 Oct. 2004. www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/fraame/index.html
	MSN Maps and Directions. n.d. 27 Oct 2004. <www.mapblast.com>.