Fraxinus americana L. var. americana
Detail
- Family
- Oleaceae
- Botanical Name
- Fraxinus americana L. var. americana
- Common Name
- White Ash
- Synonym(s)
- Flora of Virginia Name/Status
- Fraxinus americana L.
- Comments
- The current treatment of Fraxinus americana includes both the widespread var. americana and var. biltmoreana (Beadle) Wright ex Fern. (= F, biltmoreana ); see Comments under map of the latter variety. While the two taxa seem distinct in their morphological extremes, numerous trees, especially in dry limestone areas, have characters that are intermediate in some way. The introduced, Asiatic pathogen Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) is currently causing extensive mortality in ash populations in most parts of Virginia. In the near future, white ash will be a much less important tree in the state's natural communities.
- Habitat
- Mesic to dry upland forests, most often in (but not limited to) base-rich soils; also characteristic of boulder-field forests and dry, rocky woodlands, barrens, and outcrops on moderately to strongly calcareous and mafic substrates such as limestone, dolostone, metabasalt, amphibolite, siltstone, calcareous sandstone, and coastal shell deposits; rich seepage swamps, mafic and calcareous fens, well-drained floodplain forests, and old fields. Common in the mountains and Piedmont; infrequent but widespread in the Coastal Plain. All Fraxinus species are currently in decline and suffering extensive mortality from state-wide outbreaks of the introduced insect pathogen, Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis).
- Native Status
- Native
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