Ash trees

[David_c]

for the life of me i have no idea what an ash tree looks like evrn though i have most likly seen thousands of them. if someone has some pictures they would'nt mind posting young and old it would be greatly appreciated.

[Jeff]

Ash is really in the news right now, at least in Michigan due to the infestation of the emerald ash borer. In fact this weekend the DNR has Firewood check station set up along many north bound highways trying to stop the flow of possibly infected ash to the north. Uninformed people will haul thier bug killed ash north as firewood at parks and cabins and can spread the infestation.

Here is a picture of an ash tree showing the effects of  woodpecker damage and a link to a thread with more pictures.


https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=Business;action=display;num=1028133716

[David_c]

thank you jeff do they bear any mast or fruit?

[Minnesota_boy]

Ash looks exactly like a bur oak.....only different.  I have to look close to tell one from the other if the leaves and branches are gone.  I usually tell by the smell when I saw them.

[David_c]

what do they smell like.

[David_c]

just read that post and it would seem that ash borer is a nasty little bug.

[Tom]

 :D :DDavid!  You would make a good straight-man. :D :D

[David_c]

i feel like a straight-man 8) 8)

[Tom]

Did I hear a rim-shot in the background?  :D

[David_c]

your some kind a joker are'nt you 8)

[Tom]

[David_c]

Thanks for the laugh i was off computer a couple hours come back find this your allright.

[L. Wakefield]

   When I first met an ash tree in WV I noticed it for being tall and straight with the grain bark very uniform in the vertical direction- and then a later time I stood back and realized the foliage just looks a bit ashen grey compared to other trees. I don't know if this is why they call it 'ash'. Now that it's in my head the signs just all come together to tell me what it is.

   But we also have a good tree book that keeps teaching me more- like varieties and like that- more than one type of ash, thousands of viburnum, stuff like that.

   We just found a burning bush on our place 'euonymus alatus'- it's a weird looking kind of a thing.  lw

[Tom]

Did it speak to you? :-/

[David_c]

what is a good resource books on trees.
Tom the funny man dont give up your day job. :D :D :D

[Bro. Noble]

Hey LW,

Good to see you online 8)

We got several kinds of euonymus.  Got a burning bush at the corner of our house.  My favorites are winged euonymus  that are smaller than burning bushes but also turn red in the fall and grow wild.  They have wings (fin-like growths) on the twigs.  We also have winged elms.  I had Whitepe take a picture of one for the ID forum,  but he never posted it.

Tom,  you're getting Louise mixed up with Moses :D

[beenthere]

David_P
Here is a site I ran across, referencing several sources including online, books, and CD's.  

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/factsheets.cfm

Do a search on 'ash' and select one or several that might be of interest to you.

[David_c]

 beenthere great site great site thanks.

[Ridge_top_farm_WVa]

I have lots of ASH on my property.

[Sylvus]

Native Michigan ashes?  Try http://forestry.msu.edu/uptreeid

None of the ashes look anything like bur oak.

My favorite Michigan tree ID book is by Norman Smith; "Trees of Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes"

[SwampDonkey]

HI Dave:

Better late then never with my post  :D

We have two ash species locally and I've heard of one other species in the southern port of my province. These are black ash, white ash and green ash.

My favorite species of all trees is white ash. They are abundant on  my woolot, with some black ash found on real wet microsites. But here is a good description as I can give.

The tree is usually a late spring bloomer. It has opposite branching and compound leaves with 7 to 9 petiolules bearing leaflets (look it up ;)  ). The buds are blunt and dark brown with medium-sized bud scales (5) and is not a stalked bud (meaning its a bud that has no short shoot bearing the bud like speckled alders do). Thus the saying black is slack and white is tight. Black ash buds are slightly elongated, but this is not always 100 % definative. Butternut or walnut would have large bud scales for comparison. Butternut leaves and buds are oily and sticky-like. Black ash buds are light brown, usually. Some other distinguishing features of white ash are that its overwintering branch tips (where this year's growth occured) are dark purple. In the fall you'll notice that this pigment is found in the leaf colors or a hint of red mixed in the leaf color. Leaves do not last long in fall, probably one of the first to drop its foliage. The black ash foliage is yellow and usually covered in blight-light blotches. Its susceptible to late and early blights which is possibly a factor in whole stands of it dying off at about the same time. They rarely get larger than 10 inches here locally. But white ash can be huge and is fast growing. Locally it is found thriving with large-toothed or trembling aspen. On its very best sites it associated with sugar maple, butternut, yellow birch and basswood. If you have alot of white ash, you have a rich very moist soil type with dark horizons (brunisols, luvisols). You'll notice the large peds in the soil from athropod action. The grain of ash is ring porous with the early wood vessels being large like the oaks. The odar of white ash is hard to describe, but while plaining it you may get a skin irritation or nasal congestion. The heart-wood is quite dark and the sap wood is very light colored. The bending properties of ash are well known, but not as strong as black ash , which is more dense, dark and very slow growing. For instance, I've planted 5 black ash 20 years ago and I swear 4 out of 5 are not significantly larger than the time I transplanted them. Flowers of ash are interesting and hard to describe unless your well up on your floral parts, they are quite simple flowers. Locally, the flowers are born in may, well ahead of the leaves and red or purplish. Seeds are maple-like only with one samara, a wing and in clusters of 3 to 5 seeds, light brown when ripened. Bark of ashes are corky, ripplely and grooved and can be easily pealed in strips as can the wood grain if spoke shaved or pounded, as in the base of black ash in the basket making process. Natives used to seek black ash for baskets, its a dying art locally.


Hope it helps you out

[logbutcher]

Msr. Swamp ---Nice description...but help us out here.
The few ashes on our woodlot look like white or black in their bark shapes/color, and crown. Because of conifer overgrowth all of the ashes have few lower branches and often are damaged or peeling at the base of their trunks below DBH.
One of the woodlot jobs is to encourage species diversity by opening the ashes and other desired species to light. I do TSI and firewood.
Any distinguishing bark features to determine black vs white ash ? Bud scars also are too similar for this cruiser to tell.
Tips are appreciated.  :-[ .  Pics ? My field guides are not much help.  Thx.

[SwampDonkey]

Your black ash can be found on marginal sites with cedar and red maple in some regions. Black ash is found more frequently on sites with flooding from high water table or active flood plains or beavers. The bark is much rougher on mature white ash and corky. On young trees you can differenciated by the descriptions above. In fall mature white ash leaves are reddish purple and black ash leaves turn yellow. Black ash usually has lots of green leafy lichens like the swamp red maple. White ash is usually found on well drained dark soils and sometimes near spring holes, but rarely on water logged ground like black ash is found. Alot of sites up here will have white ash and aspen regenerating after a clearcut of a rich hardwood site. White ash is an upland hardwood species found almost 100% of the time with sugar maple. If the site hasn't any recent harvesting the white ash will have an average diameter larger than the maple, grows faster but intolerant to shade.

cheers

[logbutcher]

Clearer now...particularly the growing environment, and associated species-red maple and no sugar/hard maple to be found in this area. Definately wet feet area, pooly drained soil, not "upland" rather coastal low Ph soils with a predominance of spruce and fir.
Black ash seems to burn similar to white but with a lower Btu content for our stoves.
Much thx. I will pay attention to spring ash flowers and samaras.
Ideas on a good, illustrated guide to close species ?
We don't believe in woodchuck lore Downeast.

[Ron Scott]

Yes, in your ecosystem, I'd say that it is black ash. White ash has a different land type association as Swamp stated above.