Plant Family: Oleaceae
Growth Form: Small to medium-sized, slender tree 10 – 20 meters tall.
Leaves / Buds: Opposite, compound, dark green, with 7 to 11 sessile, toothed leaflets that are long-pointed; the buds are black.
Bark: Light gray to brown, scaly and flaky, unlike the tightly fissured bark on other Ash trees.
Flowers: Monoecious, lacking petals, in clusters near the branch ends, April to June.
Fruits: Samaras with flattened seeds, unlike the thicker seeds of Green and White Ash.
Habitat: Swamps, bog edges, floodplains, prefers saturated soils.
Range: Not found on Cape Cod, fairly common in other parts of New England, ranging north into Canada and west to Minnesota and Iowa.
Key Features: Distinguished from Green and White Ash by the sessile leaflets, black buds, and flaky bark.
Comments: The wood is tough, but has a tendency to split, so it is not as commercially important as White and Green Ash.
