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Forestry
Champion Trees
Champion American/White Ash
(Fraxinus Americana L.)
The American/White 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
to 13" long, with 5 to 9 leaflets, 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
to 8" long.
I quote from a book, The Best Loved Trees Of America , written by tree fancier Robert S. Lemmon,
"… The story of the American/White Ash (Fraxinus Americana) , like that of the
Oaks, Maples, and Hickories, is bound closely with the record of early colonial
days and the men who quite literally hewed their homes out of what was then the
American wilderness. Not that the tree appealed especially to any sentimental or
esthetic impulse in those resourceful pioneers, for in point of fact it is no
more impressive or commanding than a dozen other kinds that the settlers took
more or less in their stride. What really won for it their high esteem was its
downright usefulness in surmounting their practical problems of building and
heating, clearing the land, breaking grounds for crops, and countless smaller
matters that the days brought forth. For the strong, clean-grained, enduring
wood of the White Ash served many practical ends and even today vies with that
of the Oak for the honor of being the most valuable, commercially, produced by
any American timber tree.. "
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.
This enormous American or White Ash tree hasn't changed much since Bill Ballowe of Hickory Plains , Arkansas , as a youth, used to play in the summer under the shade of this massive canopy of green. This old warmly familiar setting was the anchor of the Ballowe family; his grandmother's home place. Mrs. Sam
"Ida" Ballowe Burnett's estate was located near what is now called 13th street and Lee street in Des Arc , Arkansas . The property is now owned by Mrs. Teresa Stephans of Des Arc, who recently received a Co-Championship certificate from the Arkansas Forestry Commission. This tree and another White Ash tree in Hazen , Arkansas share the proud title. The Hazen tree has a Bigness Index (BI) of 294 as compared to the (BI) of 287 for the Des Arc tree. The Forestry Commission declares a co-champion when the Bigness Index is within 10 points of another tree. This tree was nominated by Reggie Talley,
retired County Extension Agent in Monroe County.
By: Reggie Talley
Retired Monroe County Extension Agent
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