Ash: Fraxinus excelsior

A native tree abundant where soils are base rich and damp, with a tall domed crown up to 45 m high. The leaves are characteristically opposite and pinnate, the buds black, and the fruit hanging in bunches of keys. The trees can be male, female or hermaphrodite, with some branches male, some female and some hermaphrodite. The purplish sprays of flowers open in April well before the leaves emerge. Fruit are abundant in some years ( mast years) less so in others hanging in bunches of keys and apparently favoured by bullfinches.

A native tree abundant where soils are base rich and damp, with a tall domed crown up to 45 m high. The leaves are characteristically opposite and pinnate, the buds black, and the fruit hanging in bunches of keys. The trees can be male, female or hermaphrodite, with some branches male, some female and some hermaphrodite. The purplish sprays of flowers open in April well before the leaves emerge. Fruit are abundant in some years ( mast years) less so in others hanging in bunches of keys and apparently favoured by bullfinches. Ash is subject to Ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) a fungus originating in China where native ash species related to ours are relatively unaffected.  The current estimate is that 80% of our native ash trees will succumb.