Ash trees are medium to large trees of the genus Fraxinus of the family Oleaceae (Olive-tree like). The family contains between 45 and 65 species. Some of them are evergreen, but most are deciduous. They grow in most parts of the world. The seeds are commonly known as "keys" in English. They are a type of fruit known as a samara. Most of the ash species have light-green, oval shaped, leaves. The central stem of the compound leaf has 9 – 13 leaflets (small leaves) in pairs, with one at the tip. There are no stalks to the side leaflets. The leaflets are pointed and toothed, with hairs on the lower surface. The leaves appear relatively late in spring, and are amongst the first to be shed in autumn.
The buds are black, sooty or velvety in appearance and are sometimes compared to a Bishop’s Mitre in shape.
Ash wood is used to make various tools, handles, baseball and softball bats and bows. It also makes very good firewood. Ash trees are also perfect material for old fashion shafts for bow and arrows.
In Norse Mythology, the world tree Yggdrasil is commonly thought to be an ash tree. The first man, Askr, was formed from an ash. The first woman was made from an alder.
The emerald ash borer ("Agrilus planipennis") is a wood-boring beetle. It was accidentally introduced to North America from Asia by solid wood packing material in the late 1980s. It has killed tens of millions of trees in 15 states in the United States and adjacent Ontario in Canada. Research is being done with three Asian wasps which are natural predators of the beetle biological control.
The European ash, "Fraxinus excelsior", has been affected by the fungus which causes "ash dieback". The disease has infected about 90% of Denmark's ash trees. In October 2012 ash dieback was found in mature woodland in Suffolk. In 2016, the ash tree was reported as in danger of extinction in Europe.
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in the Western Christian calendar. It occurs 46 days before Easter. The date is different each year because the date of Easter varies. It can fall as early as February 4 and as late as March 10.
Those able to and willing to should fast voluntarily between Ash Wednesday and Easter. There are exceptions, though. Pregnant women, sick people, children, and the old usually don't have to.
Ash Wednesday is a very important part of Lent.
The dates of Ash Wednesday are:
Valkyrie
The Valkyries (Old Norse: "Valkyrjur," singular "valkyrja" - “choosers of the slain”) are a host of female figures in Norse mythology; they are a group of warrior maidens in service to the chief god Odin. Fierce and respected warriors, they are responsible for choosing who live and die in battle, singling out those worthy of paradise. In the aftermath of battle, the Valkyries carry those whom they have chosen off to Valhalla, an enormous and majestic hall that lies in Asgard. Once there, these eïnherjar, as they are now called, are shared between Odin and Freyja, with half of them going to Valhalla and the other to Fólkvangr, Freyja's realm. In Valhalla, the eïnherjar feast and make revelry, as they are served and cared for by the Valkyries themselves.
The old Norse people thought that Valkyries rode giant wolves, and that they had black wings which correspond to ravens; these two creatures both scavenge corpses on the battlefield symbolizing death and destruction. With the spread of Christianity the idea of what a Valkyrie was like changed more and more to a Romantic description of a beautiful woman.
Richard Wagner composed some operas, featuring Valkyries (German: "Walküren", singular: "Walküre"). These operas are "Die Walküre", "Siegfried", and "Götterdämmerung". They feature a story of a valkyrie Brünnhilde, her punishment for disobeying her father, and her falling in love with Siegfried. The music for the opening of Act Three of "Die Walküre" is very famous. It is called the "Ride of the Valkyries".
Zosterops
Zosterops is a type of bird. There are many different species of Zosterops around the world.
Dimorphodon
Dimorphodon was a prehistoric flying pterosaur from the early Jurassic period. It had a big head, a small brain, a tall beak, and two types of teeth. Variation in teeth is rare in pterosaurs.
Like "Rhamphorhynchus", "Dimorphodon" is only found in Jurassic strata. It was the first pterosaur found in England, by Mary Anning, in 1828.
Cryolophosaurus
Cryolophosaurus is a theropod dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic period. It is the only theropod to be found in Antarctica. "Cryolophosaurus" was discovered in the Jurassic Hanson Formation in the Transantarctic Mountains. The find of this dinosaur was significant because it proves that the dinosaurs lived on all continents and that high latitude climates were tolerated by dinosaurs at that time.
"Cryolophosaurus" is also significant because it is the oldest known tetanuran from any continent: it is the only one from the early Jurassic.
"Cryolophosaurus" had a large crest on the top of the skull, above the eyes. It extends upwards from the skull.
"Cryolophosaurus" was found about from the South Pole but then it was about or so farther north. Also found were the remains of "Glacialisaurus" (a large basal sauropodomorph), a crow-sized pterosaur, synapsids, and another unknown theropod. There are also the remains of many plant genera around the same age as fossils of "Cryolophosaurus", proving that dense plant matter had once grown on Antarctica's surface before it drifted southward.
Coloborhynchus
Coloborhynchus was a pterosaur. It has been found in Lower Cretaceous rocks in England and Brazil. It is a similar genus to "Anhanguera" and "Ornithocheirus".
The type specimen of "Coloborhynchus" is known only from a partial upper jaw. It can only be distinguished from its relatives by its unique combination of tooth socket positions. In "Coloborhynchus", the two front teeth pointed forward and were higher on the jaw than the other teeth, while the next three pairs of teeth pointed to the sides. The final two pairs of teeth in this specimen point downward. Finally, a unique oval depression was located below the first pair of teeth.
The possible species "Coloborhynchus capito" is the largest toothed pterosaur known. A specimen from the Cambridge Greensand has a very large upper jaw tip which displays the typical teeth which distinguish "C. capito" from other species. The jaw tip is nearly 10 cm tall and 5.6 cm wide, with teeth up to 1.3 cm in base diameter. If the proportions of this specimen was the same as other known species of "Coloborhycnhus", the total skull length could have been up to 75 cm, leading to an estimated wingspan of .
Alder
Alder is the common name for about 30 kinds of trees and shrubs of the Alnus genus. They are a part of the birch family ("Betulaceae"). Most of them are smaller in size. Leaves are mostly deciduous, only very few alders are evergreen.
Alder trees are found in all parts of the northern hemisphere and they are often found on poor and/or wet soil. Alders have simple leaves with a toothed edge. The male flowers are in the form of hanging catkins and the female flowers are much smaller catkin-like structures "(see image)." The pollen is transferred from the male to the female flower by the wind. The female flower parts develop into little, green, rounded cone-like fruits which turn brown in autumn and open to release the seeds.
The best known species are the , which can be seen throughout Europe. The largest is probably the , native to North America. It reaches about 32–35 metres in height. The widespread is a shrub, rarely more than 5m high. The commonest alder in the UK is the Black Alder, also called the Common Alder or European Alder.
Alder is a preferred tree for bees, especially in spring. It is also used to make charcoal.
Futabasaurus
Futabasaurus was a plesiosaur from the Upper Cretaceous. A complete skeleton of one has not been found. It is not known very well.