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Fraxinus americana
Also called American Ash, Cane Ash
White ash is a large, fast-growing deciduous hardwood tree native to eastern and central North America, grown mainly for its strong, straight-grained timber. Its key challenge in cultivation is the emerald ash borer, an invasive pest that has killed vast numbers of ash trees.
Fraxinus americana, the white ash or American ash, is a deciduous ash tree in the olive family (Oleaceae) native to eastern and central North America. It is straight-trunked and fast-growing, reaching 60 to 90 feet tall with a canopy spread of 50 to 75 feet wide. The tree is highly valued as lumber for its straight grain and superior hardness.
The white ash population in North America was devastated by the invasive emerald ash borer, which has killed hundreds of millions of them as it spread since its arrival in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Surviving white ashes are often much younger, with the oldest and tallest white ashes largely becoming dead trees due to the emerald ash borer. The population is still in decline.
White ash is one of the most used trees for everyday purposes and, to keep up with high demand, is cultivated almost everywhere possible. The wood is white and quite dense (within 20% of 670 kg/m3), strong, and straight-grained. Its species produces an ideal, atypical dominant excurrent structured crown. It is a traditional timber of choice for production of baseball bats and tool handles. The wood is also favorable for furniture and flooring. A study compared it to eight other different species, and it showed the highest antibacterial activity in the context of manufacturing chopping boards.
Woodworkers use the timber mainly for interior uses due to high perishability in contact with ground soil. It is also used to make lobster traps. Since the 1950s, it has also become a popular choice for solid electric guitar bodies. It makes a serviceable longbow if properly worked. The wood was used in ceiling fan blades from the 1970s through the mid-1980s, though cane was sometimes simulated with plastic then. It is no longer used for ceiling fan blades in most countries.
The species is native to mesophytic hardwood forests from Nova Scotia west to Minnesota, south to northern Florida, and southwest to eastern Texas. Isolated populations have also been found in western Texas, Wyoming, and Colorado, and the species is reportedly naturalized in Hawaii.
European ash · Gregg's ash · Formosan Ash · Manchurian ash · Manna Ash · Green ash · Fraxinus platypoda · Chinese Flowering Ash · Velvet ash · Ash
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Fraxinus americana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
