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Identifying Ash - Fraxinus excelsior
Mature specimens may be 40 – 45 Metres tall and up to 400 years old. Related to the Olive and the Lilac.
Leaf
Compound, pinnate leaf. The central stem of which bears 9 – 13 leaflets in pairs, with one at the tip. There are no stalks to the side leaflets. The leaflets are pointed and toothed, with hairs on the lower surface. The leaves appear relatively late in Spring, and are amongst the first to be shed in Autumn.
Buds, Bark and Stem
Buds sometimes compared to a Bishop’s mitre in shape. They are black, ‘sooty’ or ‘velvety’ in appearance – see the photo to the left. Bark is silvery grey and, with age, may develop a network of criss-crossing ridges.
Flowers and Fruits
The flowers appear before the leaves and are borne in clusters near the tips of twigs – they are green and small, lacking petals. Trees are dioecious i.e. there are separate male and female trees, though hermaphrodites also occur.
Winter Twigs
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