Fraxinus americana, L.

Form.—Height 50-100 feet, diameter 2-4 feet; trunk usually long and free from branches for many feet; crown pyramidal and open.

Leaves.—Opposite, pinnately compound, 8-12 inches long; the 7-9 leaflets 3-5 inches long, ovate or lance-oblong, pointed, nearly or quite entire, glabrous, dark green above, pale and either smooth or pubescent beneath.

Flowers.—May; dioecious; the staminate in dense red-purple clusters; the pistillate in loose panicles.

Fruit.—Matures in early autumn, and persists into the winter; samaras 1-2 inches long in drooping paniculate clusters.

Bark.—Furrowed deeply, the ridges firm, narrow, flattened, brownish-gray.

Wood.—Heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, tough and elastic, brown with thick sapwood.

Range.—Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Florida and Texas.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Common throughout the State.

Habitat.—Grows in many situations, but prefers rich moist loamy soil.

Notes.—The White Ash is one of our valuable timber trees, producing wood which is manufactured into agricultural implements, wagons, furniture, tool handles, and interior finish. It is by far the most common Ash but is nowhere abundant.