+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ## black ash {#black-ash .Title-Header}                               |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| *Fraxinus nigra* Marsh.                                               |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Plant Symbol = FRNI                                                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

####### *Contributed By: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of North America Program*

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.6979166666666665in"
height="4.051388888888889in"}

## Alternate common names

Basket ash, hoop ash, brown ash, swamp ash, water ash

## Uses

The wood of black ash is strongly ring-porous, making it ideal for
basketry splint, barrel hoops, snowshoe frames, canoe ribs, and material
for woven chair seats. Each growth ring has a distinct porous area
(spring growth) and a dense area (summer growth), the latter usable as
splint, which can be permanently bent. It separates into thin sheets
when soaked and pounded. The wood is softer, lighter weight, and easier
to work than white ash. It is darker colored with more grain and used
largely for furniture and interior finish.

*Ethnobotanic*: Black ash is an important tree for the making of
lacrosse sticks used by the Mohawk and other tribes of the Eastern
United States. Trunks at least 6 to 8 inches across are harvested for
their bark. The Abnaki, Ojibwa, Malecite, Meskwaki, and other cultural
groups use the bark to make baskets. The inner bark of the black ash was
used to make a bark barrel by the Iroquois which was used for storing
dried vegetables, fruits, and seeds, as well as clothing. The tree
traditionally was a valuable medicine to many tribes in Eastern North
America. The Iroquois steeped the bark of the tree together with the
roots and bark of other plants to treat rheumatism. The Menomini used
the inner bark of the trunk as a valuable medicine and as a seasoner for
other medicines. The Meskwaki made a tea from a mixture of the wood with
the root of *Smilacina racemosa* to loosen the bowels. They also used
the inner bark of the trunk as a remedy for any internal ailments.
Non-Indian settlers used a bark infusion as a bitter tonic.

Black ash is not an outstanding ornamental, but it is cold tolerant,
good for wet soils, and relatively tolerant of atmospheric pollution.
Cultivars and hybrids have been developed, emphasizing upright growth,
oval crown form, growth vigor, bright yellow fall foliage, persistence
of fall foliage, and seedlessness.

*Wildlife*: The winged seeds are eaten by a number of birds including
wood ducks, quail, bobwhite, purple finches, and pine grosbeaks. Mammals
also eat the seeds including beaver, porcupines, and white-footed mice.
Rodents and sometimes wild turkeys shuck off the wing and eat only the
seed inside. White-tailed deer and moose feed on the twigs and foliage.

## Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

## Description 

*General*: Olive family (Oleaceae). Native trees growing mostly 12-18 m
tall (9-13 m at 50 years; 15-18 m at 100 years), the largest reaching 21
m, with ascending branches, narrow crown, and slender trunk, sometimes
bent or leaning; bark gray, becoming corky-ridged and shallowly
furrowed, divided into large irregular plates with thin, papery scales
that rub off easily. Leaves are deciduous, opposite, 15-40 cm long,
pinnately compound with 7-11 oval to lance-shaped leaflets each 8-14 cm
long, tapered to a long slender tip, only the end leaflet stalked, with
finely toothed margins, dark green above, lighter green beneath with
some rusty hairs, turning purple to brown in the fall. Flowers are
small, purplish, usually in clusters near the branch tips; some trees
produce either male flowers or female flowers, but others have a mixture
of the two kinds while others have bisexual flowers (the species
polygamo-dioecious). Fruits are winged nutlets (samaras) 2-4.5 cm long
and 1cm wide, winged to the base, borne in terminal or axillary
clusters, the cluster hanging at maturity. The common name is perhaps in
reference to the dark wood; the other common names are clearer in
allusion.

*Variation within the species:* Variants have not generally been
recognized within black ash.

*Distribution*: Black ash is native to the Great Lakes and Acadia
regions of North America, in southeastern Canada from Newfoundland to
eastern Manitoba, south to Iowa, Illinois, West Virginia, and Virginia.
For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this
species on the PLANTS Web site.

## Adaptation 

Black ash most commonly grows in moist to wet muck or shallow organic
soils, especially in swamps, floodplains, terraces, ravines, and on
small, poorly drained upland pockets. It also may grow on sands and
loams with high water tables. It can tolerate standing water for many
weeks, but best growth is on better-drained sites.

It is a shade intolerant pioneer species and normally becomes
established in even-aged pockets or stands following some kind of
disturbance. Seedlings, saplings, and sprouts tend to dominate the
regeneration layer under partial openings in the canopy. It sometimes
occurs in pure stands, especially on wetter upland sites, but usually is
mixed with eastern white cedar, tamarack, black spruce, balsam fir,
American elm, red maple, and silver maple. It is also may be sparsely
present in mature forests dominated by larch, birch, and even
beech-maple.

Flowering: May-June, with the leaves or just before; fruiting:
June-September dispersed: July-October.

## Establishment

*Adaptation*: The habitat of the tree is in wet woods and swamps and it
occurs in Delaware, West Virginia, Indiana and Iowa, north into the
Canadian provinces of Newfoundland, Quebec, and Manitoba.

*Planting*: Black ash is difficult to grow. Good seed crops in black ash
are produced irregularly (1-8 year intervals). Seeds may remain dormant
for up to 8 years under natural conditions. Most do not germinate until
the second spring after being released. The seed can germinate in
hardwood leaf litter or under 0.6-1.8 centimeters of soil. Grass, brush,
and hardwood reproduction must be controlled for successful seedling
establishment.

Ash fruits are usually gathered in the autumn when their color has faded
from green to yellow or brown. Clusters should be collected by hand or
with pruners and seed hooks or gathered from the ground. Samaras should
be spread in shallow layers for complete drying. Plant the seeds in the
fall of the year, one-half inch below the surface of the soil through
drilling or broadcasting. No stratification methods appear to work. Some
recommend stratifying seeds 60 days at 14/30 C° (night/day), then 90
days at 5° C. Otherwise, stored seeds are best sown as soon as possible
in a cold frame or an outdoor seedbed. In direct planting of the seed,
one must be patient as it may take two winters before the seeds to
germinate. During this time, keep the soil moist during the growing
season. The seeds usually germinate the second spring\--and after
germination the seedlings grow rapidly, up to one foot per year.

Shade the beds for a short time after germination. Keep the bed
weed-free even though the seeds haven\'t germinated. Mulching with wood
chips, straw, or burlap helps keep down the weeds. Also, the area needs
to be deer-proofed, as the deer like to browse the young seedlings. At
the end of the second year out-plant the seedlings during the spring,
while they still are dormant. The soil should have good drainage and no
standing water. The plants need full sunlight. Space the plants 4 to 8
feet apart. After out-planting, no care is needed. Pruning may be
required to keep straight stems for certain ethnobotanical purposes.

Older trees of black ash are known to have reached 130 years, but older
ones probably exist.

Black ash produces fast-growing sprouts from stumps up to 30 cm in
diameter. Sprouts originate from adventitious buds on the sides of the
stump and at the root crown. Trees also will root sucker.

## Management

Forests managed to yield black ash should be selectively cut.
Clearcutting often results in inadequate natural regeneration or loss of
advanced regeneration because of rising water tables or increased
competition with grass and brush.

As with many other tree species on wet sites, individuals of black ash
are shallowly rooted and subject to windthrow.

Black ash is easily damaged by fire and can be killed or top-killed by
severe fire but it probably sprouts from the root crown following such
damage. Burned sites also may be re-colonized through the wind-dispersed
seed.

## Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Seeds and plants of selected *Fraxinu**s*** cultivars are available from
many nurseries. It is best to plant species from your local area,
adapted to the specific site conditions where the plants are to be
grown.

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

## References

Coladonato, M. 1994. *Fraxinus nigra*. In: W.C. Fischer (compiler). *The
fire effects information system* \[Database\]. USDA, Forest Service,
Intermountain Research Station, Intermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory,
Missoula, Montana. \<http://fire.org/feis/plants/tree/franig/\>

Herrick, J.W. 1995. *Iroquois medical botany*. Syracuse University
Press, Syracuse, New York.

Lyford, C.A. 1945. *Iroquois crafts*. U.S. Department of Interior,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C.

Martin, A.C., H.S. Zim, & A.L. Nelson 1951. *American wildlife and
plants: A guide to wildlife food habits*. Dover Publications, Inc., New
York, New York.

Moerman, D.E. 1998. *Native American ethnobotany*. Timber Press,
Portland, Oregon.

Nuss, S. 2000. *Black ash basketry*. Web site.
\<http://basketry.about.com/hobbies/basketry/library/weekly/aa123098.htm\>
Accessed September 2000.

Smith, H.H. 1923. *Ethnobotany of the Menomini*. Bulletin of the Public
Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4(1):8-175.

Smith, H.H. 1928. *Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki*. Bulletin of the Public
Museum of the City of Milwaukee 4(2):175-326.

Tardif, J., S. Dery, & Y. Bergeron 1994. *Sexual regeneration of black
ash (Fraxinus nigra Marsh.) in a boreal floodplain*. Amer. Field Nat.
132:124-135.

Tardif, J. & Y. Bergeron 1999*. Population dynamics of Fraxinus nigra in
response flood-level variations, in northwestern Québec*. Ecol. Monogr.
61:107-125.

Vennum, T. 1994. *American Indian lacrosse*. Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.

Wright, J.W. & H.M. Rauscher 1990. *Fraxinus nigra* Marsh. Black Ash.
Pp. 000-000, IN: R.M. Burns and B.H. Honkala (tech. coords.). *Silvics
of North America*. *Volume 2.* *Hardwoods*. USDA, Forest Service Agric.
Handbook 654, Washington, D.C.
\<http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/silvics_manual/volume_2/fraxinus/nigra.htm\>

Young, J.A. & C.G. Young 1992. *Seeds of woody plants in North America*.
Dioscorides Press, Portland, Oregon.

## Prepared By

### *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, NPDC, Davis, California

*Guy Nesom*

Formerly BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

## Species Coordinator

### *M. Kat Anderson*

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Plant Science Department, University of California, Davis,
California

Edited 30nov00 jsp; 19may03 ahv; 07jun06 jsp

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
Web site\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> or the
Plant Materials Program Web site
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>

*The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in
all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national
origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual
orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases
apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require
alternative means for communication of program information (Braille,
large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA\'s [TARGET
Center](http://www.usda.gov/oo/target.htm) at 202-720-2600 (voice and
TDD).*

*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or
TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.*

*Read about [Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation
Service](http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/civilrights/).*