Fraxinus excelsior
Common name
ash
Family
Oleaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
FRAEXC
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial. riverflats, forest, scrub and waste places.
Features
Large tree to about 30 m. Leaves alternate, with 9-13 leaflets on petioles to about 8 cm long. Leaflets to about 10 x 3.5 cm, lanceolate with serrate margins. The flowers are very small and purple, lack petals, and appear before the leaves with male and female flowers on separate trees. The single-winged seeds hang in dense clusters from the branches.
Similar taxa
Several species of Ash are cultivated in New Zealand. F. excelsior can be separated by the large number of leaflets, and green mid-veins.
Flowering
September, October
Flower colours
Violet/Purple
Life cycle
Many seeds are produced but wild plants are rare. Seed viability unknown. Dispersed by wind and people.
Year naturalised
1904
Origin
Europe, W. Asia, N.Africa
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Etymology
fraxinus: From the Latin name for ash, possibly derived from the Greek phrasso ‘to fence’, the timber being very useful for fence making.