The first pair of lateral buds are some distance below the end bud. Gray, relatively smooth, later becoming corky-ridged and shallowly furrowed or scaly with frequent knobs on the trunk. The wood is generally lighter in weight and weaker than White ash, but is used for the same purposes. Baskets can be woven from slats produced by pounding a wet block of wood until it separates along the annual growth rings. Wood ducks, gamebirds and songbirds and many mammals eat the seeds.
Whitetail deer browse the twigs and young foliage.