What Is the Leaf Description for a Green Ash?

Foliage

• Green ash has sharp serrated to fine toothed, greenish-yellow, opposite foliage. The foliage is pinnately compound with five to nine leaflets. Pinnately compound foliage has smaller leaflets or compound leaves arranged along the mid-vein. The leaves sometimes have pubescent undersides where the lower foliage surface is covered with short, erect hair. There are a few hairs growing near the main veins. Mature compound foliage ranges between 10 to 12 inches in length with 3- to 4-inch-long leaflets. Foliage uppersides are bright during summer and assume a clear yellow shade before falling in autumn. Green ash trees have an early leaf drop.

Tree Size

• Also referred to as swamp ash, red ash and water ash, the tree has a mature height of 35 to 65 feet in cultivation with a crown width of 30 to 40 feet. In its native habitat along the river bottoms and damp sites in the eastern regions of the United States, the green ash can grow nearly 120 feet tall.

Form

• The green ash tree has a medium texture during summer that gradually turns more coarse in winter. The tree has shallow, wide spreading roots. Younger trees have a pyramidal form and eventually grow more upright and spreading upon maturity. The long, clean trunk has varying patterns in the silver gray bark. Some trees have square, flat-topped plates, while others have scalloped valleys. The inner bark areas are cream colored. When viewed from a distance, green ash has a very compact shape.

Cultural Conditions

• The tree is adapted to a range of soil types with a preferred pH of 6.0 to 8.0. Green ash also tolerates compacted soils and is moderately tolerant to shorts periods of flooding. Hardy to USDA zone 2, green ash has a high level of tolerance for drought. Plant the tree in areas of full sun for best growth. The tree is likely to be infested with pests like ash borers, ash plant bugs and cankerworms. Likely pathogenic infections include anthracnose, ash yellows and stem decay.