White Ash (Black Diamond) Traditional Cache

White Ash is threatened by the Emerald Ash Borer. I learned about it in the Cornell Plantations, after finding a cut down dead tree, surrounded by small seedlings. Unfortunately the spot was geo-occupied. I was pleased to find some other small trees in the woods there. BYOP.

White Ash

 Fraxinus americana

This is the largest of the Ash trees in North America, sometimes reaching 100 feet in height.

The firm, gray bark of the White Ash has diamond-shaped furrows and interlacing ridges. The tree grows in the rich, moist, well-drained soil of bottomlands and not-so-dry slopes. The size and value of White Ash trees make this one of the primary commercial hardwoods in the United States. The wood is hard, strong, elastic, and very useful. It has a variety of applications, including interior finish, vehicles, furniture, containers, and wooden equipment. Also, it often has been used as a shade or street tree. Several kinds of birds eat the fruit.

This from: A Guide to the Identification of New York State Forest Trees: 

3. WHITE ASH 

Fraxinus americana Linnaeus

White ash is a valuable and rapid-growing tree in the woodlots of New York State. It is common throughout New York and is found up to an altitude of 2000 feet in the Adirondacks. It prefers to grow in rich moist woods, and is common on abandoned agricultural lands. The wood is heavy, hard, strong, close-grained, and tough. Large quantities of it are used for agricultural implements, tool handles, oars, furniture, and sporting goods. In some locations, especially open edges and roadsides, branch dieback and tree mortality are common.

Bark - dark grayish brown in color, deeply furrowed with narrow flat-topped firm ridges which on older trunks are somewhat scaly; ridges in some instances tend to run together, enclosing diamond-shaped fissures.

Twigs - very stout, smooth, shining, grayish brown in color, brittle, flattened at leaf bases (nodes); leaf scar is notched.

Winter buds - plump, blunt-pointed, dark brown or nearly black in color; terminal bud 1/5 inch long, larger than lateral buds; last pair of lateral buds almost on level with terminal bud.

Leaves - opposite, compound, 8 to 15 inches long, with 5 to 9 leaflets; leaflets sharp-pointed, 3 to 5 inches long, with slightly and sparsely serrate margins; borne on short stems, by this characteristic may be distinguished from black ash leaflets, which are stemless.

Fruit - a winged seed, 1 to 2 inches long, broadly paddle-shaped with the wing occupying the position of the blade; borne in long, open, drooping clusters, ripening in September, often not dropping off until early winter.

Distinguishing features - thick twigs; compound leaves with stemmed leaflets; brown buds; ashy-gray, older bark.

3a. Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marshall var. lanceolata (Burkhausen) Sargent) is frequently confused with white ash. The former has narrower leaflets with more noticeable serrations which extend farther toward the base; the leaflets are greener beneath; the terminal bud is more pointed; and the leaf scar is not notched. It has the same uses as white ash.

The white ash is a handsome tree native to North America. It shades many parks, large yards and other sizable areas and provides exquisite fall color ranging from yellow to deep purple and maroon. Beyond its landscape value, the tree has made its mark as the wood used to make baseball bats.

Unfortunately, the white ash is coming under attack by the emerald ash borer, which is spreading across the country.

Emerald Ash Borer

Agrilus planipennis, commonly known as the emerald ash borer, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to northeastern Asia that feeds on ash Species. Females lay eggs in bark crevices on ash trees, and larvae feed underneath the bark of ash trees to emerge as adults in one to two years. In its native range, it is typically found at low densities and does not cause significant damage to trees native to the area. Outside its native range, it is an invasive species and is highly destructive to ash trees native to northwest Europe and North America. Prior to being found in North America, very little was known about emerald ash borer in its native range; this has resulted in much of the research on its biology being focused in North America. Local governments in North America are attempting to control it by monitoring its spread, diversifying tree species, insecticides, and biological control.

The cache is a tied in, camoed, “micro” pill bottle, that you have to push hard to open and close. Please keep track of the contents and return as found. Don’t forget: BYOP!