Ash

The ash is a native British tree. This individual is a young sapling that we hope will grow to maturity.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Fraxinus excelsior
Family: 
Olives
Family Latin name: 
OLEACEAE
Category: 
Flowering Plants
Vernacular names: 

Esh, Hampshire weed, Widow-maker

Species description

Species description

Ash trees can be large trees with expansive crowns, but many in Britain suffer from disease. Ash dieback, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, is expected to kill 80% of Britain's Ash trees. It is a fungus that originated in Asia and arrived in Europe about 30 years ago. Young Ash trees - like the one in the Cemetery - show symptoms quickly. Leaves show dark blotches, then wilt and fall. Shoots visibly die back. The total effect is to stunt the growth of young trees or to thin out the crowns of mature trees. There is no cure for this disease. The effect upon Britain's landscape will eventually be devastating.

You can read about West Sussex's response to Ash dieback and download their Action Plan (PDF). You may find the Living Ash Project website worth a visit. A few exceptional Ash trees appear to have tolerance to the fungus that causes Ash dieback. The hope is that these may be used to breed new Ash trees that retain that tolerance systematically.

Before the familiar black buds of this native tree appear the petalless flowers with their purple black stamens open in April, the stamens later turning green. Ash timber is hard and versatile, taking shock and strain very well, maintaining its shape under pressure. It is used for waggon wheel felloes (rims), shafts and undercarriage, heavy tool handles (pitchfork, pick-axe, sledge hammer, axe, beetle, scythe, fork, rake, shovel, spade), walking sticks, shepherds' crooks, cattle drovers' heavy sticks, dibbers, ladder poles, gates and heavy crates. The ash saplings used to make walking sticks are bent and straightened after heating in heavy sand. A large number of sports items, which strike or are struck, are made from ash, such as gymnasium bars, cricket stumps, polo clubs, tennis racquets, skis, snowshoes, sledge runners, oars, paddles, and shinty sticks.

Ash saplings were split to resemble the female vulva, and hernia sufferers passed through in a ceremonial rebirth. The sapling was bound, and as it grew together so the patient hoped to be cured. Ash bark was used to treat malaria. The ash has edible leaves and seed pods, the latter known as 'keys'. Both are usually gathered in July. An infusion of chopped ash leaves is a mild laxative and purgative. Young, green keys, when pickled, are a traditional accompaniment to cheese and cold meats.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)
Ash trees can be large trees with expansive crowns, but many in Britain suffer from disease.
The leaves of Ash have between 3 and 6 pairs of light green leaflets.

Details

Species family information

Olive, ash, privet, and lilac are well known members of this family.

Category information

Nucleic multicellular photosynthetic organisms lived in freshwater communities on land as long ago as a thousand million years, and their terrestrial descendants are known from the late Pre-Cambrian 850 million years ago. Embryophyte land plants are known from the mid Ordovician, and land plant structures such as roots and leaves are recognisable in mid Devonian fossils. Seeds seem to have evolved by the late Devonian. The Embryophytes are green land plants that form the bulk of the Earth’s vegetation. They have specialised reproductive organs and nurture the young embryo sporophyte. Most obtain their energy by photosynthesis, using sunlight to synthesise food from Carbon Dioxide and Water.

The earliest known plant group is the Archaeplastida, which were autotrophic. Listing just the surviving descendants, which evolved in turn, we have the Red Algae, the Chlorophyte Green Algae, the Charophyte Green Algae, and then the Embryophyta or land plants. The earliest embryophytes were the Liverworts, followed by the Hornworts, and the Mosses. Then we have the Vascular Plants, the Lycophytes and Ferns, followed by the Spermatophytes or seed plants, the Gnetophytes, Conifers, Ginkgos, and Cycads, and finally the Magnoliophyta (Angiosperms) or flowering plants.