I am having a problem identifying a tree in the front of my house. The local Garden Centres do not know what it is. I have attached two images, one is of the branches/leaves & the other of the tree Can any of you identify this tree? THank You Bob
Chionanthus virginicus The tree here is almost certainly Chionanthus virginicus, known commonly as the ‘Fringe Tree'. It is native to Eastern North America and prefers acid soil, so it tends to do well in coastal BC conditions. While there are over 100 species in the genus Chionanthus, there are generally only two available in cultivation; C. virginicus and C. retusus. The most readily noticeable difference between the two is that C. retusus has upright flower panicles, and C. virginicus has semi-pendant to pendant flower panicles. Judging from your close-up, I would have to say the flowers appear to be pendant. It is a beautiful tree in general, and the specimen you have looks to be in prime condition and a superb example of the species.
Fringe trees (Chionanthus spp.) produce simple leaves. The tree illustrated has compound leaves. It is more likely Fraxinus (same family - Oleaceae), given the opposite, pinnately compound leaves, warty, laterally compressed stems and characteristic samaras. The Chinonanthus fruit is a drupe (a fleshy fruit), not a dry, winged fruit as pictured. It probably either Arizona ash (Fraxinus velutina) or a cultivar of the European ash, Fraxinus excelsior (a number of F. excelsior cultivars exhibit fewer leaflets than is typical of the species). Closer examination would be required to make this deterrmination. If a flatbed scanner is available, scans showing both sides of the leaves, buds and bark, as well as a scale, would be helpful. Failing that, samples can always be brought into the Botanical Garden for diagnosis by Hortline students and staff.
Additional info requested Thank You for your reply I have scanned the leaves front & back plus a section of branch and I also photographed the tree's trunk. I do not know what a scale is, so I do not know if I have included that or not. The tree was planted about Nov 1988
Thank You for your Reply! This is the first time I have used this type of service & am very impressed with the help given.
Ashes to Ashes Thanks for the vote of confidence Bob, but as Douglas pointed out, the leaf on your tree appears to be compound, in other words, made up of several leaflets. He is quite correct in surmising then that your tree is probably a Fraxinus species, not Chionanthus. They are related, and at first glance the flowers do appear to be very similar, but in the end they are very different trees. This just goes to show how tricky it can be identifying plants from little more than a few pictures. But, nonetheless, here I go again… My best guess as to which type of ash it is, would have to Fraxinus ornus, the Manna Ash, sometimes called the Flowering Ash Although, please note that there are around 65 species of ash, and numerous cultivars and hybrids, and having just missed something so obvious as the fact that the leaves on the branch in your first photo are, in fact, compound, I’d have to say I’m a little reticent to make any definite claims of identification at the moment. I do stand behind my claim that it is a beautiful tree and a superb example of its species, however it just happens to be a different species than I first thought!
