Narrow-leaved ash

The leaf

Each leaf is made up of seven to thirteen narrow, lance-shaped leaflets with toothed edges. The leaves grow in opposite pairs along the twig. The winter buds are brown, not black.

The bark

The bark is grey; smooth on young trees and, over the years, cracked into a network of small, square plates.

The fruit

The fruits are samaras: a seed with a long wing, like a little tongue, about three or four centimetres long. They hang in dense clusters, green in summer and brown in autumn, and many stay on the tree through the winter.

The flower

It flowers in winter, before the leaves come out. The flowers are small, without petals, in dark purple clusters, and easily go unnoticed.

1. Jan
2. Feb
3. Mar
4. Apr
5. May
6. Jun
7. Jul
8. Aug
9. Sep
10. Oct
11. Nov
12. Dec

Habit

A tree with a rounded, fairly open crown. In the countryside you see old ash trees with thick trunks and many branches sprouting from the same height, because they used to be cut back regularly.

Where it grows

It grows along rivers and streams, on valley floors and in damp meadows throughout Catalonia, especially in the lowlands. In the northern mountains it is replaced by the common ash, Fraxinus excelsior, which has black buds.