White ash is found in East Texas to the valley of the Trinity River. It grows best in the rich moist soils of upper bottomlands. The [bark] is gray and furrowed, the branchlets smooth and gray with rust-colored winter buds.
WHITE ASH (Twig and [fruit], one-half natural size; leaf, one-third natural size)
The [compound] [opposite] LEAVES are generally straight, 8 to 12 inches long, with 5 to 9 (usually 7) sharp pointed [leaflets], dark green above and paler and whitish beneath.
The male and female FLOWERS appear on separate trees, the male in dense reddish-purple clusters and the female in more open branches. The [FRUIT] is a [samara], 1 to 1½ inches long, resembling the blade of a canoe paddle in outline, with the smooth, terete body at the handle end. The fruit matures in late summer and is distributed effectively by the winds.
The WOOD of white ash is extremely valuable because of its toughness and elasticity. It is preferred for small tool handles, athletic equipment, and agricultural implements, and is used extensively for furniture and interior finish.
The ashes comprise the only group of trees in eastern America that have [opposite], pinnately [compound] leaves with 5 or more [leaflets]. This fact provides a ready means of identifying the group. There are at least seven other species of ash in Texas.
GREEN ASH
Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.
Green ash is a common tree along streams as far west as the Guadalupe River. It attains a height of 50 feet or more, has spreading branches and a trunk ranging up to 2 feet in diameter. The TWIGS are smooth, round, and ashy gray, marked by pale [lenticels] and rusty [bud-scales].
