FAMILY: OLEACEAE
ALTERNATE COMMON NAME:
LEAVES: deciduous, opposite, once-pinnately compound, 9-18” long; leaflets 5-9, usually 7; leaflet stalks not decurrent-winged; leaflet blades variable in shape, ovate, oblong, lanceolate, 1.5-6” long by 0.8-2.8” wide, leaflet bases rounded; upper leaflet surfaces glabrous, lower surfaces usually with tomentose hairs along midribs and proximal portions of major lateral veins
FLOWER: unisexual, plants dioecious; inconspicuous and unremarkable
FRUIT: samara, 2-3” long, wing up to ca. 0.5” wide, wing usually overlapping with seed-bearing portion of the samara (thus seed-bearing portion is said to be decurrent); wing apex usually shallowly notched
TWIGS: stout and gray, with brownish pubescence when young; leaf scars shield-shaped to crescent- to half-moon-shaped
BARK: gray, thick, furrowed with ridges giving a diamond pattern
FORM: medium to large tree, to 100’ tall, bases often enlarged if growing where flooded for long intervals
HABITAT: cypress-tupelo swamps and wet swales in bottomland hardwoods
WETLAND DESIGNATION: Obligate Wetland (OBL): Almost always occurs in wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region
RANGE: southeast US; in scattered populations [USGS Range Map]
USES: flooring, millwork, boxes/crates, baseball bats, tool handles
WILDLIFE: genus Fraxinus is an important deer browse
|
