Fraxinus quadrangulata

:"Blue Ash redirects here. For other uses, see Blue Ash (disambiguation)"Taxobox
name = "Fraxinus quadrangulata"
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Lamiales
familia = Oleaceae
genus = "Fraxinus"
species = "F. quadrangulata"
binomial = "Fraxinus quadrangulata"
binomial_authority = Michx.

"Fraxinus quadrangulata" (Blue Ash) is a species of "fraxinus" native primarily to the Midwestern United States, as well as the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and the Nashville Basin region of Tennessee. Isolated populations exist in Alabama, Southern Ontario, and small sections of the Appalachian Mountains. [ cite web | url = http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/data/atlas/little/fraxquad.pdf | title = "Fraxinus Quadragulata Range Map" | accessdate = 2008-03-02 | publisher = United States Geological Survey ] It is typically found over calcareous substrates such as limestone, growing on limestone slopes and in moist valley soils, at elevations of 120-600 m.Virtual Herbarium of the Chicago Region: [http://www.vplants.org/plants/species/species.jsp?gid=17023 "Fraxinus quadrangulata"] ] Oklahoma Biological Survey: [http://www.biosurvey.ou.edu/shrub/frax-qua.htm "Fraxinus quadrangulata"] ]

It is a medium-sized deciduous tree typically reaching a height of 10–25 m with a trunk 50–100 cm diameter. The twigs typically have four corky ridges, a distinctive feature giving them a square appearance (in cross-section), hence the species name, "quadrangulata", meaning four-angled. The winter buds are reddish-brown. The leaves are 20–38 cm long, with 5–11 (most often 7) leaflets, the leaflets 7–13 cm long and 2.5–5 cm broad, with a coarsely serrated margin and short but distinct petiolules. The flowers are small and purplish, produced in the early spring before the leaves appear. The fruit is a samara 2.5–5 cm long and 6–12 mm broad, including the wing.

The common name is because early European settlers made blue dye from the inner bark.

References