Fraxinus ornus L.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Fraxinus ornus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/fraxinus/fraxinus-ornus/). Accessed 2024-10-08.

Common Names

  • Manna Ash

Synonyms

  • Ornus europaea Pers.

Glossary

acuminate
Narrowing gradually to a point.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
axillary
Situated in an axil.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
linear
Strap-shaped.
midrib
midveinCentral and principal vein in a leaf.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Fraxinus ornus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/fraxinus/fraxinus-ornus/). Accessed 2024-10-08.

A deciduous, very leafy tree, from 50 to 65 ft high, forming a dense rounded head of branches; buds rough, grey; young shoots ordinarily without down. Leaves 5 or 8 in. long, with five to nine leaflets which are ovate or oblong (the terminal one obovate), 2 to 4 in. long, 34 to 134 in. wide, more or less tapered at the base, abruptly pointed at the apex, shallowly round-toothed, dull green and glabrous above, the base of the midrib beneath and the stalk downy; main-stalk grooved above, furnished with brownish down where the leaflets are attached. Flowers whitish, very abundantly produced in May in terminal and axillary panicles 3 or 4 in. long, along with the leaves of the new shoots; petals linear, 14 in. long. Fruits about 1 in. long, narrow-oblong.

Native of S. Europe and Asia Minor; cultivated since early in the 18th century, if not before; now one of the best known of exotic trees. It is a handsome tree with very luxuriant leafage, and decidedly ornamental in flower, although the blossom has a faint, not agreeable odour. Manna sugar is obtained from the stems by incision.

The manna ash is somewhat variable in the wild, mainly in the shape and size of its leaflets, which may be relatively broader or longer acuminate at the apex, than in the tree described above, but it is doubtful if these fluctuations are worthy of taxonomic recognition. A more distinct geographical variant is:

From the Supplement (Vol. V)

specimens: Hyde Park, London, south of Serpentine, 66 × 814 ft (1981); Kensington Gardens, London, 85 × 712 ft (1981); Regent’s Park, London, north of Tennis Courts, 65 × 714 ft (1981) (the tree in the Rose Garden, felled in 1982, had 160 annual rings on the stump and was 10 ft in girth below the graft in 1978); Chelsea Physic Garden, London, 66 × 712 ft (1978); Yattendon Court, Berks., 30 × 11 ft (1977); Melbury, Dorset, 49 × 812 ft (1980); Dodington Park, Glos., 44 × 10 ft at 4 ft (1980); Killerton, Devon, 70 × 612 ft (1983); Monteviot, Roxb., 62 × 6 ft (1983).


var. rotundifolia (Lam.) Ten.

Synonyms
F. rotundifolia Lam

Of dwarfer habit than the type with the leaflets about 1 in. long and broadly rhombic-elliptic. Found in Calabria, the Balkans, etc.How effective the manna ash can be as a specimen is well shown by the group at the east end of the Lake at Kew. The largest here is 45 × 7{1/2} ft (1964). There are two manna ashes in Hyde Park, London, measuring 66 × 7{1/4} ft and 57 × 7{1/2} ft, and another in Kensington Gardens of 75 × 6{3/4} ft (all 1967). Others of note are: Beauport, Sussex, 50 × 9{1/2} ft (1965); Frogmore, Berks, 45 × 8{3/4} ft (1967); Whiteknights, Berks, 62 × 5 ft (1962); Melbury, Dorset, 45 × 8 ft (1967).