Ash is the commonest tree in Irish hedgerows, and is also a traditional woodland species. It will grow in a range of soils, not acid, and prefers well-drained sites. Ash woods are found in the Burren, Co Clare, and Hanging Rock in South Fermanagh.
Common ash belongs to the genus Fraxinus and is a member of the olive family (Oleaceae).
Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is a large deciduous tree growing up to 45m and flowering April to May.
Lifespan: Ash can live up to 400 years but it is thought that coppiced trees can live many hundreds of years more.
Characteristics
Bark is pale grey and fissures with age. Twigs are smooth with obvious black, velvety buds.
Ash leaves are compound, so each leaf is made up of three to six pairs of oval, pointed, toothed leaflets with one terminal leaflet. The leaves are in opposite pairs each measuring up to 35cm.
Ash is dioecious: male and female flowers are found on different individual trees, but a single tree can also be of mixed sex with male and female flowers on different branches. Purple flowers form in spiked clusters at the tips of twigs and appear before the leaves. Male (left) and female (right) flowers are pictured below.
Ash is wind pollinated and the flat oblong seeds become single winged keys that hang in bunches. The seeds mature August–September and fall from the tree between winter and early spring.
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