Black Ash

LEAVES: Opposite, compound with 7 to 11 leaflets each 3″-5″ long, only the end leaflet stalked, margins toothed, dark green above, lighter green beneath with some rusty hairs.

TWIGS: Stout, gray or red-brown with many pale lenticels, somewhat hairy at first, becoming smooth, end buds dark brown to black and pointed, adjoining leaf scars are not notched at the top, nearly circular, with raised margins. The first pair of lateral buds are some distance below the end bud.

FRUIT: Resembling White ash but is usually shorter and slightly wider, 1″-1¾” long and 3/8″ wide.

BARK: Gray, relatively smooth, later becoming corky-ridged and shallowly furrowed or scaly with frequent knobs on the trunk.

GENERAL: Sometimes called Swamp ash, this medium-sized tree reaches 40′-50′ in cool swamps, wet woods and bottomlands throughout Pennsylvania. The wood is generally lighter in weight and weaker than White ash, but is used for the same purposes. Baskets can be woven from slats produced by pounding a wet block of wood until it separates along the annual growth rings. Wood ducks, gamebirds and songbirds and many mammals eat the seeds. Whitetail deer browse the twigs and young foliage.