Manchurian ash | |
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Manchurian Ash leaf and bark | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Oleaceae |
Genus: | Fraxinus |
Section: | Fraxinus sect. Fraxinus |
Species: | F. mandshurica |
Binomial name | |
Fraxinus mandshurica | |
Fraxinus mandshurica, the Manchurian ash, is a species of Fraxinus native to northeastern Asia in northern China (Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Jilin, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shanxi), Korea, Japan and southeastern Russia (Sakhalin Island). [1]
It is a medium-sized to large deciduous tree reaching 30 m tall, with a trunk up to 50 cm in diameter. The leaves are 25–40 cm long, pinnate compound, with 7–13 leaflets, the leaflets 5–20 cm long and 2–5 cm broad, subsessile on the leaf rachis, and with a serrated margin. They turn to a golden-yellow in early autumn, and the tree is usually early to change color. The flowers are produced in early spring, before the new leaves, in compact panicles; they are inconspicuous with no petals, and are wind-pollinated. The fruit is a samara comprising a single seed 1–2 cm long with an elongated apical wing 2.5–4 cm long and 5–7 mm broad. [1]
It is closely related to Fraxinus nigra (black ash) from eastern North America, and has been treated as a subspecies or variety of it by some authors, as F. nigra subsp. mandschurica (Rupr.) S.S.Sun, or F. nigra var. mandschurica (Rupr.) Lingelsheim. [1] However, unlike that species, Fraxinus mandshurica is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals. [2]
The spelling of the species name is disputed; some (e.g. the Flora of China [1] ) cite mandschurica, while others (e.g. USDA GRIN [3] ) cite mandshurica. The original 1857 Russian publication spelled it without the "c". [4]
It is tolerant of many soil conditions including the wet soils of swamps and river valleys, and is not particular as to soil pH except for showing poor growth at high pH. [5] It requires full sun for optimal growth, and should receive at least 50 cm of precipitation each year. It requires a continental climate with well-defined seasons with cold winters, hot summers, and freedom from late spring frosts. [6]
The seeds are eaten by a wide variety of birds.
This tree is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental tree in parts of Canada and the United States. Manchurian ash can be used as a medium height wind break for a farmstead. It is also highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even grow well in inner city environments. The tree also makes an excellent landscape tree in moist areas, especially along roads and ditches where a good amount of water can be available. The Manchurian grows into a denser oval form with age.
It has proved very intolerant of oceanic climate conditions in cultivation, leafing out too early and then being damaged by late spring frosts. [6]
The species is being tested as a potential source of genes for resistance to emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis, an Asian insect which occurs alongside Manchurian ash in the wild, and which has become an invasive pest species in North America. [7] However, significant mortality in Manchurian ash from emerald ash borer is also recorded in the wild in China. [8]
The cultivar Fraxinus mandshurica 'Mancana' ("Manchana Ash") has been selected by the Morden Research Station, Morden, Manitoba. It has a dense oval to globose crown, and is a male tree; it is very hardy. Hybrids with black ash have also been produced in cultivation. [7]
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.
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.
Fraxinus americana, the white ash or American ash, is a fast-growing species of ash tree native to eastern and central North America.
Juglans nigra, the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central Texas. Wild trees in the upper Ottawa Valley may be an isolated native population or may have derived from planted trees.
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.
Agrilus anxius, the bronze birch borer, is a wood-boring buprestid beetle native to North America, more numerous in warmer parts of the continent and rare in the north. It is a serious pest on birch trees (Betula), frequently killing them. The river birch Betula nigra is the most resistant species, other American birches less so, while the European and Asian birches have no resistance to it at all and are effectively impossible to grow in the eastern United States as a result.
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.
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.
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.
Acer mandshuricum, the Manchurian maple, is a species of maple native to China, Korea and Russia.
Carya laciniosa, the shellbark hickory, in the Juglandaceae or walnut family is also called kingnut, big, bottom, thick, or western shellbark, attesting to some of its characteristics. It is a slow-growing, long-lived tree, hard to transplant because of its long taproot, and subject to insect damage. The nuts, largest of all hickory nuts, are sweet and edible. Wildlife and people harvest most of them; those remaining produce seedling trees readily. The wood is hard, heavy, strong, and very flexible, making it a favored wood for tool handles. A specimen tree has been reported in Missouri with 117 cm (46 in) diameter at breast height, 36.9 m tall, and a spread of 22.6 m.
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.
Juglans mandshurica, also known as monkey nuts, or tigernut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family Juglandacea, native to the Eastern Asiatic Region. It grows to about 25 m.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Spathius galinae is a parasitoid of emerald ash borer. The known range of S. galinae extends from the Russian Far East to South Korea. It is currently approved for release in some areas of North America as part of a biological control program against emerald ash borer.
Tilia mandshurica, the Manchurian linden or Manchurian lime, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, native to China, the Korea Peninsula, Japan, and the Russian Far East. It is used as a street tree in its native range, and has potential elsewhere, but is susceptible to damage from late frosts.
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.