white ash (Fraxinus americana)

Third place champion white ash in Cedaredge.

Species info:

Leaves: Opposite, pinnately compound, 8–15 inches long with 5–9 leaflets.

Leaflets: Stalked; 2–6 inches long and 1–3 inches wide; ovate-lanceolate with acute to acuminate tips; margins usually remotely serrated.

Leaf Surface: Dark green and glabrous (smooth) above; pale green beneath.

Bark: Gray-brown; smooth when young, becoming deeply furrowed and ridged with age; mature bark forms a distinctive interlacing diamond pattern up to 2 inches thick.

Flowers: Dioecious or possibly polygamo-dioecious (male and female flowers on separate trees or occasionally both on the same tree); borne in panicles that appear before the leaves.

Botanical: Fraxinus americana

Family: Oleaceae

Mature Height: 50+

Canopy Spread: 30+ ft

Foliage Type: Deciduous

Tree Shape: Rounded

Flowers: Inconspicuous

Fruit: Inconspicuous

Fall Color: Yellow, Purple/Mahogany *Autumn purple variety

Water Use: Moderate

Hardiness: Zones 3 to 9

Wildlife Value: Moderate (pollinators, birds)

Foliage: Dark Green

Pests/Pathogens: Emerald ash borer, Cankers, Lilac/ash borer, carpenter worms, ash flower gall, and ash sawfly. All Ash tree species (Fraxinus) are no longer recommended to be planted in Colorado due to identification of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) within state borders. To learn more about this exotic, invasive insect visit, csfs.colostate.edu/eab. For alternatives to this tree visit the Front Range Tree Recommendation List.

Recommendations for planting: DO NOT PLANT!

Information sources: Michael Dirr, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (University of Georgia, 1990) Ohio State University's Plant Dictionary.