Fraxinus americana

Last updated

Fraxinus americana
Fraxinus americana 002.jpg
Status TNC G4.svg
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Fraxinus
Section: Fraxinus sect. Melioides
Species:
F. americana
Binomial name
Fraxinus americana
L.
Fraxinus americana range map 3.png
Natural range of Fraxinus americana
Synonyms [3]
Synonymy
  • Aplilia macrophyla(Hoffmanns.) Raf.
  • Calycomelia acuminata(Lam.) Kostel.
  • Calycomelia alba(Marshall) Kostel.
  • Calycomelia americana(L.) Kostel.
  • Calycomelia biltmoreana(Beadle) Nieuwl.
  • Calycomelia epiptera(Michx.) Kostel.
  • Calycomelia juglandifolia(Lam.) Kostel.
  • Calycomelia pistaciifoliaNieuwl.
  • Calycomelia viridis(Bosc) Kostel.
  • Fraxinoides alba(Marshall) Medik.
  • Fraxinus acuminataLam.
  • Fraxinus albaMarshall
  • Fraxinus albicansBuckley
  • Fraxinus biltmoreanaBeadle
  • Fraxinus canadensisGaertn.
  • Fraxinus carolinensisWangenh.
  • Fraxinus carolinianaWilld. 1806 not Mill. 1768
  • Fraxinus curtissiiVasey
  • Fraxinus discolorMuhl.
  • Fraxinus epipteraMichx.
  • Fraxinus glaucaRaf.
  • Fraxinus grandifoliaRaf.
  • Fraxinus juglandifoliaLam.
  • Fraxinus macrophyllaHoffmanns.
  • Fraxinus novae-angliaeMill
  • Fraxinus villosaDum.Cours.
  • Fraxinus viridisBosc
  • Leptalix acuminata(Lam.) Raf.
  • Leptalix alba(Marshall) Raf.
  • Leptalix epiptera(Michx.) Raf.
  • Leptalix glaucaRaf.
  • Leptalix grandifoliaRaf.
  • Leptalix juglandifolia(Lam.) Raf.
  • Leptalix viridis(Bosc) Raf.
  • Ornanthes americana(L.) Raf.
  • Ornus americana(L.) Bosc

Fraxinus americana, the white ash or American ash, is a fast-growing species of ash tree native to eastern and central North America.

Contents

The species is native to mesophytic hardwood forests from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to northern Florida, and southwest to eastern Texas. Isolated populations have also been found in western Texas, Wyoming, and Colorado, and the species is reportedly naturalized in Hawaii. [4] [5] [6]

There are an estimated 8 billion ash trees in the United States [7] – the majority being white ash trees and green ash trees. [8] [9] [10] [11] White ash trees are threatened by the spread of the invasive emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), detected in Detroit, Michigan in 2002 and now found in eastern Canada and the majority of U.S. states, whose larvae kill ash trees. [1]

Characteristics

Autumn foliage 2015-10-21 10 57 30 White Ash foliage during autumn along Pennington Road (New Jersey Route 31) in Ewing, New Jersey.jpg
Autumn foliage

The name white ash derives from the glaucous undersides of the leaves. It is similar in appearance to the green ash, making identification difficult. The lower sides of the leaves of white ash are lighter in color than their upper sides, and the outer surface of the twigs of white ash may be flaky or peeling. Green ash leaves are similar in color on upper and lower sides, and twigs are smoother. White ash leaves turn yellow or red in autumn. Despite some overlap, the two species tend to grow in different locations as well; white ash is a forest tree that commonly occurs alongside sugar maple while green ash is a pioneer species that inhabits riparian zones and disturbed areas. [12] [13] The white ash's compound leaves usually have 7 leaflets per leaf whereas the counts in other ash trees more often vary. [14]

Like other species in the section Melioides, Fraxinus americana is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals. [15]

Detail of Fraxinus americana twig. The C-shaped leaf scars of white ash are useful in distinguishing this species from the closely related green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica). The lateral buds of F. pennsylvanica share a less curved margin with their corresponding leaf scars, imparting an overall D-shape to the latter. Fraxinus americana (Oleaceae).jpg
Detail of Fraxinus americana twig. The C-shaped leaf scars of white ash are useful in distinguishing this species from the closely related green ash ( Fraxinus pennsylvanica ). The lateral buds of F. pennsylvanica share a less curved margin with their corresponding leaf scars, imparting an overall D-shape to the latter.
Fall, Russell County, Virginia White Ash Leaves.jpg
Fall, Russell County, Virginia

Cultivation and uses

White ash is one of the most used trees for everyday purposes and, to keep up with high demand, is cultivated almost everywhere possible. The wood is white and quite dense (within 20% of 670 kg/m3), [17] strong, and straight-grained. Its species produces an ideal, atypical dominant excurrent structured crown. It is a traditional timber of choice for production of baseball bats and tool handles. The wood is also favorable for furniture and flooring. A study [18] compared it to eight other different species, and it showed the highest antibacterial activity in the context of manufacturing chopping boards.

Woodworkers use the timber mainly for interior uses due to high perishability in contact with ground soil. [17] It is also used to make lobster traps. Since the 1950s, it has also become a popular choice for solid electric guitar bodies. [19] It makes a serviceable longbow if properly worked. The wood was used in ceiling fan blades from the 1970s through the mid-1980s, though cane was sometimes simulated with plastic then. It is no longer used for ceiling fan blades in most countries.

White ash is not seen in cultivation as often as green ash, due to its preference for undisturbed forest sites away from urban pollution and soil compaction. It sometimes has been planted for its consistently reliable autumn colors, which typically are bright orange and red hues as opposed to other species of ash that produce a uniform yellow color.

Cultivation of white ash differs across North American continent. For example, within the City of Chicago region, 2010 statistics show most common street tree species is white ash at 6.2%. Along with third ranked green type at 4.9%, ashes combine to make up 11% percent of the city's street trees, with an overall population of 13,648,044 million standing ashes within Cook County alone. [20]

Autumn Purple, or Junginger, a wild variety of American white ash selected for its purple leaf color, was discovered by University of Wisconsin horticulturist Karl Junginger of McKay Nursery in Waterloo, Iowa. After its introduction in 1956, it quickly became the most popular and most expensive landscaping selection, surpassing the high priced ginkgo, London plane and white/burr oak. [21] A related species, Biltmore ash, is sometimes treated as a variety of white ash. Other taxonomists argue that Biltmore ash is its own species (Fraxinus biltmoreana). [22] [23]

North American native ash tree species are used by North American frogs as a critical food source, as leaves that fall from the trees are particularly suitable for tadpoles to feed upon in ponds (both temporary and permanent), large puddles, and other water sources. [24] Species such as red maple, which are taking the place of ash due to the ash borer, are much less suitable for the frogs as a food source—resulting in poor frog survival rates and small frog sizes. [24] The lack of tannins in the American ash variety makes them a good food source for frogs, but are not resistant to the ash borer. Varieties of ash from outside North America typically have much higher tannin levels and resist the borer. Maples and various non-native invasive trees, trees that are taking the place of American ash species in the North American ecosystem, typically have much higher leaf tannin levels. [24] Ash species native to North America also provide important habitat and food for various other creatures that are native to North America. [25]

Emerald ash borer

The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), also commonly known by the acronym EAB, is a green beetle native to Asia. In North America, the EAB is an invasive species, highly destructive to ash trees in its introduced range. The damage of this insect rivals that of chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease. [26] To put its damage in perspective, the number of chestnuts killed by the chestnut blight was around 3.5 billion chestnut trees while there are 3.5 billion ash trees in Ohio alone. Dutch elm disease killed only 200 million elm trees while EAB threatens 7.5 billion ash trees in the United States. The insect threatens the entire North American genus Fraxinus. Since its introduction into the United States and Canada in the 1990s, and its subsequent detection in 2002, it has spread to eleven states and adjacent parts of Canada. It has killed at least 50 million ash trees so far and threatens to kill most of the ash trees throughout North America. White ash exhibits a little more resistance to the EAB than green ash, which has nearly no resistance; however this could also possibly be due to white ash not being used in landscaping as extensively or placed in high-stress environments. [27] [28] [29]

An infested tree can be recognized by premature fall color and leaf senescence observed on affected branches between August and last week of September. Before the EAB was officially identified, such dieback symptoms were thought to have been caused by a vascular disease classified as ash yellows. It was assumed damage was caused by the EAB taking advantage of weakened trees. Other recognizable signs regularly observed have been upper crown dieback, epicormic shoots or sprouts, bark lesions, frass filled larval galleries, [30] and deformed exit holes. When the "flatheaded" beetle has fully developed, it will bore out of the tree, in this instance, with a hole in a deformed "D" shape. In past it was assumed, once any symptoms had started to show, or once a tree had become infested, it was likely too late to begin management. Today only on-site professionals diagnosing an individual tree can responsibly make such determinations. [31]

Ash fungal disease

Hymenoscyphus fraxineus is a fungal disease that attacks ash trees. The disease causes leaf loss, crown dieback, and lesions in the bark. This fungus is, for the most part, fatal, both directly and indirectly, by weakening the tree's immune system so that it is more susceptible to attacks from pests or pathogens. Because of this, younger trees are more affected, and fully mature ash trees are incapable of living long enough to reproduce. The disease has spread over most of Europe and has been confirmed in Britain, however, it has not yet been found in North America. The scale of the threat is not yet known, but is thought to be able to cause significant damage to the ash landscape of Europe and the UK. [32]

Related Research Articles

<i>Fraxinus</i> Genus of plants

Fraxinus, commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some subtropical species are evergreen trees. The genus is widespread throughout much of Europe, Asia, and North America.

<i>Fraxinus quadrangulata</i> Species of ash

Fraxinus quadrangulata, the blue ash, is a species of ash native primarily to the Midwestern United States from Oklahoma to Michigan, as well as the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and the Nashville Basin region of Tennessee. Isolated populations exist in Alabama, Southern Ontario, and small sections of the Appalachian Mountains. It is typically found over calcareous substrates such as limestone, growing on limestone slopes and in moist valley soils, at elevations of 120–600 m.

<i>Quercus muehlenbergii</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus muehlenbergii, the chinquapinoak, is a deciduous species of tree in the white oak group. The species was often called Quercus acuminata in older literature. Quercus muehlenbergii is native to eastern and central North America. It ranges from Vermont to Minnesota, south to the Florida panhandle, and west to New Mexico in the United States. In Canada it is only found in southern Ontario, and in Mexico it ranges from Coahuila south to Hidalgo.

<i>Fraxinus excelsior</i> Species of deciduous tree in the family Oleaceae

Fraxinus excelsior, known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Alborz mountains, and Great Britain and Ireland, the latter determining its western boundary. The northernmost location is in the Trondheimsfjord region of Norway. The species is widely cultivated and reportedly naturalised in New Zealand and in scattered locales in the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerald ash borer</span> Species of beetle

The emerald ash borer, also known by the acronym EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash species. Females lay eggs in bark crevices on ash trees, and larvae feed underneath the bark of ash trees to emerge as adults in one to two years. In its native range, it is typically found at low densities and does not cause significant damage to trees native to the area. Outside its native range, it is an invasive species and is highly destructive to ash trees native to Europe and North America. Before it was found in North America, very little was known about emerald ash borer in its native range; this has resulted in much of the research on its biology being focused in North America. Local governments in North America are attempting to control it by monitoring its spread, diversifying tree species, and through the use of insecticides and biological control.

<i>Fraxinus pennsylvanica</i> Species of ash

Fraxinus pennsylvanica, the green ash or red ash, is a species of ash native to eastern and central North America, from Nova Scotia west to southeastern Alberta and eastern Colorado, south to northern Florida, and southwest to Oklahoma and eastern Texas. It has spread and become naturalized in much of the western United States and also in Europe from Spain to Russia.

<i>Fraxinus nigra</i> Species of ash

Fraxinus nigra, the black ash, is a species of ash native to much of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, from western Newfoundland west to southeastern Manitoba, and south to Illinois and northern Virginia. Formerly abundant, as of 2017 the species is threatened with near total extirpation throughout its range within the next century as a result of infestation by an invasive parasitic insect known as the emerald ash borer.

<i>Chionanthus virginicus</i> Species of tree

Chionanthus virginicus is a tree native to the savannas and lowlands of the northeastern and southeastern United States, from Massachusetts south to Florida, and west to Oklahoma and Texas.

<i>Fraxinus mandschurica</i> Species of ash

Fraxinus mandshurica, the Manchurian ash, is a species of Fraxinus native to northeastern Asia in northern China, Korea, Japan and southeastern Russia.

<i>Fraxinus profunda</i> Species of ash

Fraxinus profunda, the pumpkin ash, is a species of ash (Fraxinus) native to eastern North America, where it has a scattered distribution on the Atlantic coastal plain and interior lowland river valleys from the Lake Erie basin in Ontario and New York west to Illinois, southwest to Missouri and southeast to northern Florida. It grows in bottomland habitats, such as swamps, floodplains and riverbanks. It is threatened by the emerald ash borer, an invasive insect which has caused widespread destruction of ash trees in eastern North America.

<i>Cerceris fumipennis</i>

Cerceris fumipennis, the only species of buprestid-hunting Crabronidae occurring in eastern North America, is found throughout the continental United States east of the Rockies: from Texas and Florida north to Maine, Wyoming, and into Canada. The wasps most often nest in open areas of hard-packed sandy soil surrounded by woody habitat suitable for their buprestid beetle prey.

Forest pathology is the research of both biotic and abiotic maladies affecting the health of a forest ecosystem, primarily fungal pathogens and their insect vectors. It is a subfield of forestry and plant pathology.

<i>Tetrastichus planipennisi</i> Species of wasp

Tetrastichus planipennisi is a parasitic non-stinging wasp of the family Eulophidae which is native to North Asia. It is a parasitoid of the emerald ash borer, an invasive species which has destroyed tens of millions of ash trees in its introduced range in North America. As part of the campaign against the emerald ash borer (EAB), American scientists in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Forestry searched since 2003 for its natural enemies in the wild leading to the discovery of several parasitoid wasps, including Tetrastichus planipennisi which is a gregarious endoparasitoid of EAB larvae on Manchurian Ash and has been recorded to attack and kill up to 50 percent of EAB larvae.

<i>Oobius agrili</i> Species of wasp

Oobius agrili is a parasitic non-stinging wasp of family Encyrtidae which is native to North Asia. It is a parasitoid of the emerald ash borer, an invasive species which has destroyed tens of millions of ash trees in its introduced range in North America. As part of the campaign against the emerald ash borer (EAB), American scientists in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Forestry searched since 2003 for its natural enemies in the wild leading to the discovery of several parasitoid wasps, including Oobius agrili, which is a solitary egg parasitoid of EAB found on ash trees in Jilin province in 2004; it has been recorded to kill up to 60 percent of EAB eggs.

<i>Spathius agrili</i> Species of wasp

Spathius agrili is a parasitic non-stinging wasp of family Braconidae which is native to North Asia. It is a parasitoid of the emerald ash borer, an invasive species which has destroyed tens of millions of ash trees in its introduced range in North America. As part of the campaign against the emerald ash borer (EAB), American scientists in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Forestry began searching in 2003 for its natural enemies in the wild, leading to the discovery of several parasitoid wasp species, including Spathius agrili. S. agrili was discovered in Tianjin, China where it is a prevalent parasitoid of EAB larvae in stands of an introduced ash species, and an endemic ash species. S. agrili has been recorded to attack and kill up to 90 percent of EAB larvae.

<i>Hymenoscyphus fraxineus</i> Fungus, cause of ash dieback

Hymenoscyphus fraxineus is an ascomycete fungus that causes ash dieback, a chronic fungal disease of ash trees in Europe characterised by leaf loss and crown dieback in infected trees. The fungus was first scientifically described in 2006 under the name Chalara fraxinea. Four years later it was discovered that Chalara fraxinea is the asexual (anamorphic) stage of a fungus that was subsequently named Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus and then renamed as Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.

<i>Candidatus</i> Phytoplasma fraxini Species of bacterium

CandidatusPhytoplasma fraxini is a species of phytoplasma, a specialized group of bacteria which lack a cell wall and attack the phloem of plants. This phytoplasma causes the diseases ash yellows and lilac witches' broom.

<i>Agrilus biguttatus</i> Species of beetle

Agrilus biguttatus is a species of beetle in the family Buprestidae, the jewel beetles. Common names include oak splendour beetle, oak buprestid beetle, and two-spotted oak borer. It is native to Europe, North Africa, and Siberia. This beetle is known as a pest that causes damage to oak trees and is a factor in oak decline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest disturbance by invasive insects and diseases in the United States</span>

Species which are not native to a forest ecosystem can act as an agent of disturbance, changing forest dynamics as they invade and spread. Invasive insects and pathogens (diseases) are introduced to the United States through international trade, and spread through means of natural and human-dispersal. Invasive insects and pathogens are a serious threat to many forests in the United States and have decimated populations of several tree species, including American chestnut, American elm, eastern hemlock, whitebark pine, and the native ash species. The loss of these tree species is typically rapid with both short and long-term impacts to the forest ecosystem.

<i>Fraxinus platypoda</i> Species of plant in the family Oleaceae

Fraxinus platypoda, the Chinese red ash, is a species of flowering plant in the family Oleaceae, native to central China, and Japan. In the latter stages of succession it often dominates the mountain riparian forest habitat in which it is found.

References

  1. 1 2 Jerome, D.; Westwood, M.; Oldfield, S.; Romero-Severson, J. (2017). "Fraxinus americana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T61918430A61918432. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T61918430A61918432.en . Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  2. ↑ NatureServe (2 February 2024). "Fraxinus americana". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  3. ↑ "Fraxinus americana". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  4. ↑ "Fraxinus americana". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
  5. ↑ "Fraxinus americana". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  6. ↑ "Fraxinus americana". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  7. ↑ "Ash Conservation Research". USDA.gov. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "The most common Ash species in the United States". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Griffith, Randy Scott (1991). "Fraxinus americana". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "Fraxinus pennsylvanica - Plant Finder". Missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  11. ↑ Gucker, Corey L. (2005). "Fraxinus pennsylvanica". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  12. ↑ Common Trees of the North Carolina Piedmont: Fraxinus americana
  13. ↑ New Brunswick tree and shrub: Fraxinus americana Archived 11 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ "White Ash (Fraxinus americana)". Devostree.ca. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  15. ↑ Wallander, Eva (2008). "Systematics of Fraxinus (Oleaceae) and evolution of dioecy". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 273 (1–2): 25–49. doi:10.1007/s00606-008-0005-3. S2CID   24152294.
  16. ↑ "Fraxinus comparison chart". Uwgb.edu. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  17. 1 2 White Ash, Niche Timbers. Retrieved on 2009-07-24.
  18. ↑ MILLER, ARTHUR J.; BROWN, TARA; CALL, JEFFREY E. (1 August 1996). "Comparison of Wooden and Polyethylene Cutting Boards: Potential for the Attachment and Removal of Bacteria from Ground Beef†". Journal of Food Protection. 59 (8): 854–858. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X-59.8.854 . ISSN   0362-028X. PMID   31159115.
  19. ↑ "Ash vs. Alder: What's the Diff?". Fender.com. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  20. ↑ "Urban Trees and Forests of the Chicago Region" (PDF). Fs.fed.us. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  21. ↑ "Patriotically Protecting American Ash from Species Modern Day Extinction". 29 April 2017.
  22. ↑ Nesom, G.L. (2010) "Fraxinus biltmoreana and Fraxinus smallii (Oleaceae): forest trees of the eastern United States". Phytoneuron 2010-51: 1-30
  23. ↑ Weakley (2015) Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, Chapel Hill, NC
  24. 1 2 3 Stephens, Jeffrey; Bervan, Keith; Tiegs, Scott (3 May 2013). "Anthropogenic changes to leaf litter input affect the fitness of a larval amphibian". Freshwater Biology. 58 (8): 1631–1646. doi:10.1111/fwb.12155.
  25. ↑ "Black Ash". Illinois Wildflowers. Dr. John Hilty. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  26. ↑ Bruce Schlink (2012). Americans Held Hostage by the Environmentalist Movement. Dorrance Publishing. p. 494. ISBN   978-1-4349-7536-2.
  27. ↑ Robinett, Molly A.; McCullough, Deborah G. (2019). "White ash (Fraxinus americana) survival in the core of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) invasion". Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 49 (5): 510–520. doi:10.1139/cjfr-2018-0320. S2CID   92553498.
  28. ↑ "Andrea C. Anulewicz, Deborah G. McCullough, and David L. Cappaert. 2007. Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) Density and Canopy Dieback in Three North American Ash Species". Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. 33 (55): 338–349. 2007. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  29. ↑ "Emerald Ash Borer". Emeraldashborer.info. Retrieved 2 April 2022.
  30. ↑ "Insect galleries in Ash trees". Minnesota State.
  31. ↑ "Emerald ash borer - Tree pests and diseases not present in UK". Forestry.gov.uk. GB Forestry Commission. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  32. ↑ GB, Forestry Commission. "Chalara dieback of ash - tree pests and diseases". Forestry.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
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