Fraxinus excelsior
Trees
Fraxinus excelsior is a tall deciduous tree that can reach up to 40m, growing mainly on lime rich soils. It is easily identified by its leaf which is made up of 6-12 paired leaflets, and in winter by its black buds. The leaves are 30cm long sharply toothed and dark green above and hairy at the base. Tiny purple flowers appear before the leaves between April and May. The tree can have either male or female flowers or both, in clusters 2-5cm long. Fruit called 'keys' grow in bunches up to 5cm long with twisted wings appearing in August, green in colour ripening to brown.
Seeds can be collected from August to January either from the tree or
the ground. Green keys should be stratified and sown the
following spring, but still may take 18 months to germinate. Brown keys will
require pretreatment.
Legend has it that Odin carved the first man out of a piece of ash wood called Yggdrasil, the Tree of the World.