Search Fact Sheets Virginia Tech Dendrology

Oregon ash Oleaceae Fraxinus latifolia Benth. Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol: FRLA
Leaf: Opposite, pinnately compound, deciduous, 5 to 14 inches long, 5 to 9 leaflets; leaflets are broadly ovate, obovate, or elliptical, densely pubescent at first but smoothing with age, margins are entire to irregularly serrate, leaflets 2 to 4 inches long, green above and paler below.
Flower: Species is dioecious; small, greenish-white, inconspicuous flowers borne in dense clusters.
Fruit: Dry, flat samaras with terminal wings, 1 to 2 inches long, samaras are attached singly but hang in dense clusters.
Twig: Stout, round but flattened at each node, olive-gray and pubescent when young, but turning gray-brown and smooth with age; large crescent-shaped leaf scars are opposite.
Bark: Thin, smooth, and gray-green when young but eventually becoming up to 1 1/2 inches thick and furrowed with thin, flat ridges, gray-brown.
Form: A medium sized tree commonly 40 to 80 feet tall and 1 to 3 feet in diameter, crown may be narrow or spreading.
Looks like: Arizona ash - two-petal ash - blue elderberry

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Additional Range Information: Fraxinus latifolia is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
More Information: Fall Color
External Links: USDAFS Silvics of North America - USDA Plants Database - USDAFS Forest Products Lab
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information