Ash (Fraxinus)

Family:

Olive Family (Oleaceae)

Flowering period:

March-May

Distribution:

in submontaneous and colline persevering plant communities Dauergesellschaften, distributed on special locations; depending on the location one may distinguish slow growing “lime – ashes” and faster growing “water – ashes”. Ash is a pioneer tree, the optimum occurrence along creeks, in association with sycamore maples, in moist alluvial soils with oaks, also met on stands following groundwater streams in beech- and oak-hornbeam woods

Appearance:

deciduous tree, leaves are opposite or arranged in whorls and odd pinnate, inflorescences are terminal or axillary and spiky, the numerous small flowers are hermaphrodite or unisexual

Important species in Europe:

Fraxinus excelsior (European or common ash): since the early 1990s year ash dieback caused by the fungus Chalara fraxinea has spread widely from Poland to many parts of Europe, in Norway it is only Shrub forming, reaching higher altitudes of up to 1800m above sea level.

Fraxinus ornus (Manna Ash): naturally distributed in the eastern Mediterranean, present as an ornamental and street tree or as a neophyte in different parts of Europe.

Fraxinus angustifolia (Narrow-leafed ash): native to southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, within Europe, the northernmost limit of its natural occurrence is along the Morava and Leitha rivers (Austria), occasionally found in parks in Central Europe.

Allergenicity:

allergologically often overlooked, cross-reaction to the olive tree, the main allergen Fra e 1, commonly known relatives are olive, privet, lilac, forsythia or jasmine

Link zum Pollenatlas: Fraxinus excelsior/ornus