|
|
Forestry
Champion Trees
American Ash (White Ash) -
(Fraxinus americana L.)
Dwarfed by this magnificent American Ash, a well worn tire swing
lazily hangs under the broad, cool
shade of this Co-champion Arkansas native tree in Hazen,
Arkansas. This behemoth's girth measures an astonishing 16 feet 3 inches, and
reaches a height of 79 feet, with an enormous crown-spread of 81 feet. This
equates to a bigness index (BI) of 291.
Frequently passing this specimen tree in all seasons during the
15 years that I have lived in the Hazen area, it dawned on me in August of this
year, that a champ may be in the making. Jim Grant, Information and education
Officer with the Arkansas Forestry Commission, met with me and measured the
circumference, height and crown spread. This information was then entered in a
weighted formula to arrive at the bigness index (BI) of 291; the BI =
circumference in inches (measured at 4' 6" from the ground) + the height in
feet + 1/4 the crown spread in feet.
The previous existing Arkansas Champion American Ash was located
on Wedington Road in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Arkansas Forestry Commission's
Champion Tree records stated that it had a bigness index (BI) of 286. The rules
of measurement require that a challenging tree of the same species have a BI of
10 points greater in order to dethrone the existing champ. There is only a 5
point BI difference which allows both trees to serve as Co-champions.
The American Ash (Fraxinus americana L.) is a deciduous tree
that has been reported in 74 of our 75 counties in Arkansas. This tree exhibits
simple, opposite, odd-pinnately compound leaves that are generally 8-13 "
long, with 5 to 9 leaflets (see inset), that are dark lustrous green above, paler
and whitish and glabrous or pubescent beneath. The dioecious flowers are borne
in April-May with or before the leaves in staminate and pistillate panicles.
These flowers ripen August-September and the fruit develops in the form of
samaras in dense clusters, often 6-8 " long.
The
wood is brown, with a lighter sapwood, close-grained, strong, hard, tough,
heavy, weighing 41 pounds per cubic foot. It seasons well, takes a good polish,
is shock resistant, and moderately durable. Native Americans used this tree in
many ways. The strong wood was used for bows and the Chippewa Indians of
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and southern Canada used the wood for manufacturing
snowshoes, calling them a' gimak', meaning snowshoe wood. The inner bark was
dried, pounded and mixed with other plant parts and steeped in water, which was
used as a tonic. These plants range from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas;
eastward to Florida, northward to Nova Scotia, and west to Ontario, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Michigan, and Nebraska. The genus name Fraxinus is the ancient Latin
name, and the meaning of the species name, americana, is obvious. It is also
commonly known as White Ash, Cane Ash, Biltmore Ash, and has been in cultivation
since 1724. The fruit is known to be eaten by a number of birds, including the
Purple Finch and the Pine Grosbeak; the foliage is browsed by Rabbit, porcupine,
and White-tailed deer.
By: Reggie Talley
Retired Monroe County Extension Agent
Back to Champion Trees
|
