BLUE ASH

Wayne Kunkel

Fraxinus Quadrangulata

Classification

Blue AshKingdom of the Blue Ash is Plantae The subkingdom is TracheobionataThe super division is

SpermatophytaThe division is MagnoliophyteThe class is MagnoliophytaThe subclass is Asteridae

Classification continued

The order is ScrophularialesThe family is OleaceaThe genus is FraxinusThe species Fraxinus Quadrangulata

Where it is located

Figure 1 The shaded area is where the tree can be found more specifically its habitat is near limestone because of the PH level from it.

What it looks like

It can be up to 80 feet tall Can get up to 40 feet wide Is considered narrow upright or rounded upright Can be a very good tree for shade

Figure 2 shows

the tree being in a very

straight position

The bark and fruit

Its bark is very different from other ash trees because this trees bark looks shingled or

flaky as it gets older

Figure 3 Picture of a Blue Ash’s bark

Figure 4 Picture of the fruit of a blue ash

The tree is both male and female so a tree can pollinate it self and produce seeds. The seeds of a Blue Ash are flatter then the other Ash’s tree.

The leaf

The leaves are pinnately compound and have several leaves usually 7-11 leaves that are opposites, aren’t alternated. The leaflets margins can vary, they can be toothed smooth or serrated finely.

Figure 5 A Blue Ash leaf shown, it is narrow but can also be

wide leafed.

The flower

The flower is a small flower that blooms with the leaves and doesn’t have petals.

It’s a perfect flower meaning it has both male and female characteristics.

Very unnoticeable in general

Figure 6 The flower is at the end of the ash tree, is very unnoticeable and not much to look at

Uses of the Blue Ash

Early pioneers used its inner bark to make a blue dye, when the inner bark was exposed to air it turned blue.

Now the Blue Ash is used similarly to the White Ash for its wood to make tools and baseball bats and furniture because it is so dense.

Figure 7 A baseball bat made out of Ash wood

The bud and twig

The most noticeable difference in the Blue Ash is that its twigs are very rectangular. This disappears as the twig grows.

This picture also shows the bud at the end which is horseshoe shaped. Figure 8 This picture

clearly shows how the sides of the twig are like a rectangle and the horseshoe shape the bud has

ReferencesPictures

Figure 1 http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/atlas/little/fraxquad.pdf

Figure 2 http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/forest/images/F-quadrinulata.jpg

Figure 3 http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/18/trees/imagetrees/ash_bl_brk_lg.jpg

ReferencesPicture

Figure 4 http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/18/trees/imagetrees/ash_bl_sd_lg.jpg

Figure 5,6http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/18/trees/imagetrees/ash_bl_lf_lg.jpg

http://www.baseballrampage.com/productphotos/3936_display.jpg figure 7

Picture reference

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/18/trees/imagetrees/ash_bl_bud_lg.jpg figure 8

Text Referencehttp://www.oplin.org/tree/fact%20pages/ash_blue/ash_blue.html

was used to support data I found

ReferencesText

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraxinus was used for classification

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/trees/ash_bl/tabid/5329/Default.aspx for heights shapes and identifying features, also for uses

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horticulture/kytreewebsite/pdffiles/Fquadprint.pdf was used for flower info

http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=FRQU&display=31 for classification information