I had a very industrious squirrel at my old house...I have moved and am planting all my previously potted perennials and trees. The squirrel seems to have planted me multiple Filbert/Hazelnuts, several Walnuts...and....what is this tree? It's about 4 feet tall and looking nut-tree-ish...however, all my plant expert friends cannot ID it...anyone?
Yep, an ash Fraxinus. Most likely Oregon Ash F. latifolia (native in SW BC), but the apparently black buds (visible in pic 2) make me wonder if it could be European Ash F. excelsior (Oregon Ash has brown buds).
Thanks gents,I'll look into this....the leaves are tough, quite rough, and the leaves have quite serrated fringes(sorry, not a botanist, just a plant nerd) which I didn't think was indicative of an ash.....here's one more thing, there are black specks patterning the stem/trunk... thanks for the help, all! Dinah
I read Ron's post as saying it's not Oregon Ash, because that has a different leaf shape (I'm not very familiar with Oregon Ash, so can't confirm that from personal experience). It does fit European Ash on leaf shape, so that's probably what it is. I don't know how commonly that is grown in BC, but if it is, it will certainly have the potential to be invasive in the southwest BC climate.
Hmmm...thanks Michael. The European Ash seems to have pointier leaves than my tree (according to the photos I am finding online)...I wonder what kind of Ash that squirrel ate a berry from...perhaps I'll gather more details when it is big enough to produce berries/flowers. Mind you, if it's potentially invasive maybe I should "off" it? Suggestions?
It does when adult, but young plants (like yours) have shorter, broader leaflets. The seeds are wind-dispersed, not by squirrels, so the parent tree shouldn't be too far away (likely less than 100-200 metres).
Ah! thanks for the leaf-age-clarification. As for wind scattered seeds...I don;t recall any tree like it around my old place. If I get a chance soon, I'll pop in there to look for the parent tree...would you recommend that I get rid of it, due to invasiveness? I don;t mind doing that...unfortunately it's a sweet and nice little sprout...
I'd wait for someone with local experience of the species to advise on whether it is a problem in BC or not - I don't know myself (other than that as a native tree here, it is an aggressive colonist of bare ground).
Hello everyone, thanks for the help! Between your advise and my friend(prof of the Botany dept at VIU) helping, I have identified it as a Fraxinus quadrangulata ...blue ash! Thanks Dinah
Well, I don't know ash trees all that well and am not a botanist, but that ID does seem a bit unlikely. That tree doesn't seem to occur around here, and the attachment of the leaflets to the rachis (the midrib they're attached to) looks different. F. quadrangulata leaflets should be short-stalked, according to this Woody Plants page, whereas your photos show leaflets with no stalks at all.
Also would need to have square stems to be Fraxinus quadrangulata ..not seeing that from your pics. They make it extremely distinctive. http://www.forestryimages.org/images/768x512/5474410.jpg
hmmm...the square stems ARE missing from my Ash...drat, I thought I had it. None of the other Ash trees I researched had really rough undersides on the leaves and very defined leaf edges...so what kind of Ash is it then? If anything, the stems appear to be triangular...should I tae some more close-up photos?? would that help, all?
Do you know if he considered European Ash as an option? I agree with the other comments that it doesn't match Blue Ash. The problem for you there is that many popular identification resources are directed at identifying local native species, and tend to ignore the possibility of introduced species, particularly if they are not listed as known invasive species.
Here is the run down I just got from her on my tree(she came to check it out in person, and immediately said "its an ash...but what kind of ash we don't know..."...Here's her take on the mystery Ash...does this look more like it, everyone? Scientific Name: Fraxinus pennsylvanica Common Name(s): Green Ash Red Ash Ash Zone(s): 3 - 9 Sun: Full Sun Water: Wet or Boggy Plant Form: Tree Size: >50' (large) Growth Rate: > 2' per year (fast) Foliage Type: Deciduous Habit: Vase-Shaped Use: Shade Tree Features: Drought Resistant Urban Tolerant Salt Tolerant PH Adaptable Summer Leaf: light green or green Fall Leaf: yellow Flower Season: Spring Flower Color: green to reddish purple Fruit Season: Fall Fruit Color: brown Native: No Fruit Season: Yes The question remains...what kind of ash, and what o earth is this tree doing in my plant pot...I logically blamed the squirrel..perhaps it was a bird dropping?
Hmm. Jacobson, in Trees of Seattle, Second Edition, p.42, says for Green Ash "leaflets usually 9". He also says "leaflets sightly, or not at all hairy", which would be consistent with Dinah's comment about "rough undersides", which would indicate that they're not hairy. Jacobsen mentions that Green Ash and Oregon Ash are quite similar, but that Oregon Ash has "leaflets usually 7". Green Ash cultivars are often used as street trees in Seattle and Vancouver. If this seed was from a cultivar (Jacobsen notes that even the "seedless" cultivars produce seeds), it would not necessarily be true to the species or the cultivar, so you could expect there to be some differences.
OK! I can settle for a Green Ash mystery tree i suppose, at least that gives me an idea of where to plant it! ...thanks everybody and good luck solving all the other plant mysteries on these forums...fun! Dinah
Dinah said she thought the leaves were pointier. Gerald Straley, in Trees of Vancouver (UBC Press, 1992), mentions that the two (Fraxinus excelsior - European Ash, and Fraxinus Pennsylvanica - Green Ash) are easily confused, but the latter has "a less prominent tuft of hairs along the midrib of the underside of the leaflets, and the winter buds are pale brown (compared to the very dark brown or black buds of European Ash), and the keys are more slender and less prominently winged ... ." It's hard to judge a tuft of hairs if you haven't seen the tuft on what you're comparing them to. And it's not time for winter buds yet, though on my screen, the buds in the first photo look quite dark. If those trees are easily confused, it shouldn't make that much difference in terms of deciding to keep it or get rid of it. They're both sizeable trees, though European Ash can get larger. Both are commonly planted around here.
