White Ash

(Fraxinus americana)

Date Planted: Approximately 1935

Family: Oleaceae

Hardiness: Native, hardy in the Gorham, ME area; Zone 4-9

Mature Dimensions: 50-100 feet tall with a 50-75 foot width

Habit: Open, rounded crown

Bark: Gray-brown and furrowed into diamond shaped areas separated by narrow interlacing ridges

Buds: Broadly ovate to semi-spherical and downy, dark brown; 2-3 pairs of scales, bud inset in leaf scar

Leaves: Pinnately compound and opposite, 8-16 inches long with 5-9 lanceolate stalked leaflets that may be finely serrate or entire. Dark green summer color changes to yellow or maroon in the fall

Flowers: Dioecious; both sexes appear in panicles of green-purple bell-shaped flowers. Appear in April in Gorham, before leafout

Fruit: 1-2 inch long samara, shaped like a canoe paddle

Pests/Disease: Scale, gypsy moths, fall webworm, various cankers

Reference Pages: Dirr M.1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Stipes Publishing Co., Champaign IL.