Scientific Family
Oleaceae
Other common names
dwarf ash
Plant type
Trees
Riparian
No
Plant Description
Origin
Native
Similar species
Fraxinus lowellii, Fraxinus velutina
Small tree with a short, crooked trunk and rounded crown of stout, curved branches. Trunk diameter to 6 inches.
Shrub or small tree, twigs square, smooth or hairy. Leaves single or pinnately compound. Leaf stem equal to the length of a single leaf. Flowers perfect or female, petals none. Fruit is a winged seed; wings of fruit extend nearly to the base of the body.
Height
20 feet
Width
10 feet
Habitat
Habitat description
Found in canyons, bottomlands and washes in lower elevations, often on dry rocky slopes in pinyon/juniper woodlands in higher elevations.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Low elevation
2000
High elevation
6500
Leaves
Leaf color
Dark green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf shape
Round or oval
Leaf margin
Toothed
Leaf hairs
None
Spines
No
Leaf Drop
Deciduous
Leaves simple or pinnately compound with 3 to 7 leaflets. Leaves nearly round but short-pointed at tips, thick. Pale green color below. Hairless. 2 to 3 inches long, 1 to 2 inches wide. Inconspicuously wavy-toothed or without teeth; blunt at bases.
Flowers
Flower color
Greenish or pale green
Flower shape
Inconspicuous
Tubular
No
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
May
Has no petals, only sepals. Many flowers occur together in small, hairy, short-branched clusters on the previous year's twigs; some flowers perfect, others female only.
Flower clusters
Elongated
Fruit
Fruit color
Brown
Fruit type
Winged
Dry, papery, winged to the seed base, flattened, maple-like key with elliptical, rounded wing. 3/8 inch wide and 3/4 inch long.
Clustered together. Maturing in summer. Can remain viable on ground for many years.