Fraxinus profunda | |
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Pumpkin ash in a hardwood swamp in Ontario, Canada. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Oleaceae |
Genus: | Fraxinus |
Section: | Fraxinus sect. Melioides |
Species: | F. profunda |
Binomial name | |
Fraxinus profunda (Bush) Bush | |
Natural range of Fraxinus profunda | |
Close-up of natural range of Fraxinus profunda | |
Synonyms | |
Fraxinus tomentosaF.Michx. |
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. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] It grows in bottomland habitats, such as swamps, floodplains and riverbanks. It is threatened by the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), an invasive insect which has caused widespread destruction of ash trees in eastern North America.
Pumpkin ash is a member of the olive family (Oleaceae) and is placed in section Melioides of the genus Fraxinus. [7] Historically, it was frequently called Fraxinus tomentosa Michx., but since Michaux used this name interchangeably with the species now known as green ash (F. pennsylvanica), the name Fraxinus profunda, which was applied by Benjamin Franklin Bush in 1901, was given precedence. [7]
Pumpkin ash is hexaploid (n=138) and has been hypothesized to have originated as a fertile hybrid between green ash and white ash (F. americana), but this remains unproven. [8] [7]
The name pumpkin ash originates from early European settlers in Arkansas and refers to the swollen trunk bases which this tree often produces in very wet habitats. [4]
Pumpkin ash is a medium-sized deciduous tree reaching 12 to 30 meters (40 to 100 feet) tall with a trunk up to 1 meter in diameter, although exceptional trees can reach 50 meters (165 feet) tall with a 4.7 meter (15 foot) diameter trunk. [9] Important morphological characteristics of pumpkin ash include:
Like other species in the section Melioides, pumpkin ash is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals. [12]
Pumpkin ash trees frequently produce bulbous swollen trunk bases and this is sometimes cited as a diagnostic feature of this species. However, not all pumpkin ash trees exhibit this feature and other ash species, such as green ash, can also produce swollen trunks in very wet habitats. [6] [4]
Pumpkin ash attains sexual maturity and begins producing fruit at approximately ten years of age. [4] The seeds develop during the summer and are dropped in the early fall. [4] The winged samaras are adapted to wind dispersal, but pumpkin ash seeds are uniquely adapted to dispersal by water and can survive submersion for several months. [4]
Seedlings thrive in moist soils in canopy openings and are sensitive to shade. [4] Young trees are extremely fast growing and can quickly attain a height where they compete with mature trees. [4]
Pumpkin ash occurs primarily in swamps, floodplains and other wet bottomland habitats. [4] Along with other ashes, it is a food plant for the larvae of several species of Lepidoptera (see List of Lepidoptera that feed on ashes).
Pumpkin ash is threatened by the emerald ash borer, an invasive insect which has destroyed large numbers of ash trees in eastern North America. [10] [6] In 2017, the IUCN assessed the pumpkin ash as Critically Endangered, due to observed massive population declines over most of its range. In 2021, pumpkin ash was listed as endangered in Canada under the Species at Risk Act, 2002. [6]
Pumpkin ash has a discontinuous range in eastern North America, where it occurs mainly in swamps and river bottoms of the Atlantic coastal plain, Mississippi valley and lower Great Lakes basin, but is conspicuously absent from regions in between, such as the Appalachian Mountains. [4] [6] [7] As a result of widespread damage by the emerald ash borer, pumpkin ash is near extirpation in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida, and is critically endangered in Canada. [6]
Areas where pumpkin ash trees are found typically have an average rainfall of 101 to 122 centimeters (40 to 48 inches) of rain per year. [4] During the growing season, from March to September, the average rainfall is around 66 centimeters (26 inches). Pumpkin ash can tolerate temperatures as low as -31 degrees Celsius (-24 degrees Fahrenheit). [13]
Pumpkin ash grows in saturated wetland soils, including sites which are flooded year-round. [4] Saplings tend to grow slower in very wet conditions compared to higher-elevation microsites. [4]
Pumpkin ash trees provide resources for humans and animals such as deer and birds. Birds, like wood ducks, feed on the fruit of a Fraxinus profunda. [4] Deer feed on the twigs and leaves of the pumpkin ash tree, and the humans use the woody parts of the tree as lumber for building. [4] In addition to being used as lumber, the wood of pumpkin ash trees can also be used in tools such as stocks or handles. [14] The wood can also be used as lumber, naval store products, and nursery stock products. [13]
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 (390–1,970 ft).
Fraxinus americana, the white ash or American ash, is a fast-growing species of ash tree native to eastern and central North America.
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 Argentina and Europe, from Spain to Russia.
Fraxinus albicans, commonly called the Texas ash, is a species of tree in the olive family (Oleaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found from eastern Texas and southern Oklahoma in the United States, to the state of Durango in Mexico. Its natural habitat is in dry, rocky slopes, often over limestone.
Fraxinus latifolia, the Oregon ash, is a member of the ash genus Fraxinus, native to western North America.
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.
Fraxinus ornus, the manna ash or South European flowering ash, is a species of Fraxinus native to Southern Europe and Southwestern Asia, from Spain and Italy north to Austria and the Czech Republic, and east through the Balkans, Turkey, and western Syria to Lebanon and Armenia.
Fraxinus mandshurica, the Manchurian ash, is a species of Fraxinus native to northeastern Asia in northern China, Korea, Japan and southeastern Russia.
Fraxinus lanuginosa is a species of ash native to Japan and to the Primorye region of eastern Russia.
Fraxinus caroliniana, the pop ash, Florida ash, swamp ash, Carolina ash, or water ash, is a species of ash tree native from Cuba through the subtropical Southeastern United States from southern Virginia to Texas. It was originally described by the botanist Philip Miller. It is a small tree about 40 ft. Leaves are compound, opposite, 7–12 in long, leaflets 5–7 in, ovate to oblong, coarsely serrate or entire, 3–6 in long, 2–3 in wide. Fruit is frequently 3-winged (samara) with flat seed portion; seed sometimes a bright violet color. It is the smallest of eastern North American ash species, wood light, soft, weak, 22 lbs./cu.ft. Typical to coastal swamps and subtropical lowlands. Like other species in the section Melioides, Fraxinus caroliniana is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals.
Fraxinus hubeiensis is a species of ash native to Hubei province in China.
Fraxinus dubia is a plant species native to Mexico and Central America. It has been reported from Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Chiapas and Veracruz.
Fraxinus berlandieriana, the Mexican ash, is a tree native to eastern and northeastern Mexico and to the south-central United States. It has been reported from Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Fraxinus chinensis, the Chinese ash, is a species of flowering trees. Its leaves are used in traditional Chinese medicine for dysentery disorders.
Fraxinus xanthoxyloides, the Afghan ash or Algerian ash, is a species of ash tree. It is found from Morocco to China. Some authorities originally described the African specimens as a distinct species, Fraxinus dimorpha.
Fraxinus uhdei, commonly known as tropical ash or Shamel ash, is a species of tree native to Mexico and Central America. It is commonly planted as a street tree in Mexico and the southwestern United States. It has also been planted and spread from cultivation in Hawaii, where it is now considered an invasive species.
Fraxinus parryi, known by common names chaparral ash, crucecilla, and fresnillo, is a species of ash native to southwestern North America, growing as a shrub or a small tree.
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.
Fraxinus papillosa, the Chihuahuan ash, is a species of flowering plant in the family Oleaceae, native to the deserts of Mexico and the southwestern United States. A small tree, it usually is found growing in canyon bottoms and on north-facing slopes.