''Fraxinus mandshurica'', or the Manchurian ash, is a species of ''

Fraxinus ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some Subtropics, subtropical specie ...

'' native to northeastern

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in northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

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Jilin ) , image_skyline = Changbaishan Tianchi from western rim.jpg , image_alt = , image_caption = View of Heaven Lake , image_map = Jilin in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_al ...

Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

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and southeastern

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(

Sakhalin Island Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

). It is a medium-sized to large

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

reaching 30 m tall, with a trunk up to 50 cm in diameter. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are 25–40 cm long, pinnate compound, with 7–13 leaflets, the leaflets 5–20 cm long and 2–5 cm broad,

subsessile In botany, sessility (meaning "sitting", in the sense of "resting on the surface") is a characteristic of plant organs such as flowers or leaves that have no stalk. Plant parts can also be described as subsessile, that is, not completely sessil ...

on the leaf rachis, and with a serrated margin. They turn to a golden-yellow in early autumn, and the tree is usually early to change color. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are produced in early spring, before the new leaves, in compact

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

s; they are inconspicuous with no petals, and are wind-pollinated. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

is a

samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

comprising a single

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

1–2 cm long with an elongated apical wing 2.5–4 cm long and 5–7 mm broad. It is closely related to ''

Fraxinus nigra ''Fraxinus nigra'', or the black ash, is a species of ash native to much of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, from western Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland west to southeastern Manitoba, and south to Illinois and northern Virg ...

'' (black ash) from eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, and has been treated as a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of it by some authors, as ''F. nigra'' subsp. ''mandschurica'' (Rupr.) S.S.Sun, or ''F. nigra'' var. ''mandschurica'' (Rupr.) Lingelsheim. However, unlike that species, ''Fraxinus mandshurica'' is

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals. The spelling of the species name is disputed; some (e.g. the ''Flora of China'') cite ''mandschurica'', while others (e.g. USDA GRIN) cite ''mandshurica''. The original 1857 Russian publication spelled it without the "c".Ruprecht, Franz Josef. 1857. Bulletin de la Classe Physico-Mathématique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg 15: 371.

Ecology

It is tolerant of many soil conditions including the wet soils of swamps and river valleys, and is not particular as to soil pH except for showing poor growth at high pH.Alberta Government agriculture & food
''Fraxinus''
It requires full sun for optimal growth, and should receive at least 50 cm of precipitation each year. It requires a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

with well-defined seasons with cold winters, hot summers, and freedom from late spring frosts.Bean, W. J. (1978). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'' 8th ed., vol. 2. John Murray . The seeds are eaten by a wide variety of birds.

Uses

This tree is occasionally cultivated as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

in parts of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Manchurian ash can be used as a medium height wind break for a farmstead. It is also highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even grow well in inner city environments. The tree also makes an excellent landscape tree in moist areas, especially along roads and ditches where a good amount of water can be available. The Manchurian grows into a denser oval form with age. It has proved very intolerant of

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

conditions in cultivation, leafing out too early and then being damaged by late spring frosts. The species is being tested as a potential source of genes for resistance to

emerald ash borer The emerald ash borer (''Agrilus planipennis''), also known by the abbreviation EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash trees, ash species (''Fraxinus'' spp.). Females lay eggs in bark crevices o ...

''Agrilus planipennis'', an Asian insect which occurs alongside Manchurian ash in the wild, and which has become an invasive pest species in North America.Ohio State University
Ash Alert
However, significant mortality in Manchurian ash from emerald ash borer is also recorded in the wild in China.European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization Data sheets on quarantine pests
''Agrilus planipennis'' (pdf file)
(currently unavailable
google cache
The

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

''Fraxinus mandshurica'' 'Mancana' ("Manchana Ash") has been selected by the Morden Research Station, Morden, Manitoba. It has a dense oval to globose crown, and is a male tree; it is very hardy. Hybrids with black ash have also been produced in cultivation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1357301 mandshurica Trees of China Trees of Japan Trees of Korea Trees of Russia Trees of Sakhalin Flora of Gansu Flora of Hebei Flora of Heilongjiang Flora of Hubei Flora of Henan Flora of Jilin Flora of Liaoning Flora of Shaanxi Flora of Shanxi Plants described in 1857 Ornamental trees Dioecious plants