Ash American: where it grows, description, photo

As the legend says, the ancient Greek gods considered ash wood to be quite suitable material for the creation of man. And in the poem "Works and Days," written by Hesiod, it is said that Zeus created people from the shaft of his spear. It is known that armourers of Ancient Greece carved them from ash wood.

In Ancient Greece, this tree was considered a symbol of righteous retribution. Probably, for this reason, the goddess of retribution-the punishing Nemesis-was often portrayed in pictures with an ash branch in her hand. Some people believed that poisonous snakes are very afraid of ash, in particular its juice. There was a belief that if you get wet with ash-covered shirt, dry it and put it on, you can protect yourself from poisonous bites.

In the Caucasus, this is one of the revered trees. From generation to generation, the mountaineers guarded not only individual trees, but also whole plantings of them. Here they performed sacrificial rituals. This did not require bloody retribution, ash was satisfied with the dairy products brought to it.

In this article we will tell you where the ash grows, what it looks like. You might be interested to know how it is used.

Ash (wood): Species

Today there are more than fifty varieties of these trees. The most common in the world are the following:

• Ash is American - it grows in the east of North America. Prefers deciduous forests and nutrient-rich, well-drained moist soils. It occurs on the slopes of the mountains (up to 1050 m above sea level), on the hills.
• Ash flower (white) - common in the European territory of Russia, in Western Europe, the Middle East. It is a photophilic xerophilus-mesophyte of deciduous forests.
• Ash lanceolate (green) - another plant representing the genus Ash. In natural conditions occurs in the east of North America. In the XVIII century it was introduced into the culture and subsequently spread quite widely. In the deciduous forests it forms dense plantations, grows along the banks of water bodies, on wet hills and hills.
• Ash ordinary - often found in the European part of our country, in the forests of the Caucasus and Crimea, in Western Europe, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean. It grows in broad-leaved forests on carbonate fertile soils.

• Ash fluffy (Pennsylvania) - common in North America. Populates banks of rivers, feels comfortable on floodplains flooded.
• Ash Manchurian - a powerful tree with a height of more than thirty meters and a trunk diameter exceeding one meter. Distributed in the Far East, East Asia. It is widely represented in many nature reserves.
• Ash black - is found in the eastern regions of North America. The tree grows to twenty-five meters. It grows in mixed stands along the banks of streams and lakes. This species suffers a small stagnation of water. Quite often it forms pure plantations.
• Ash-leaved ash is a small tree, not more than twelve meters tall. The trunk is about thirty centimeters in diameter. Distributed in the Far East, East Asia. It is cultivated in some Far Eastern reserves.

American ash (tree): description

A slender and tall tree (up to forty meters). The crone is wide, ovoid in shape. Branches are bare, only young branches have a small pubescence of greenish-brown with a reddish shade of color. Later they acquire a light orange color. Sometimes it can be gray or brown.

Leaves and flowers

The tree leaf deserves special attention . Ash has fairly large plates, the length of which is about thirty centimeters. Leaflets with serrated or solid edges. Their form is oblong-oval or oblong-elliptical. The sheet is complex, consisting of five to nine plates. Their length is not more than fifteen centimeters, width - about five centimeters.

They are located on small petioles (0.4-0.8 cm). The upper side of the plate is painted in a dark green color, with depressed veins, the lower part is much lighter. It has a cellular or smooth structure. Pistillate inflorescences can reach ten centimeters in length. Flowers are dioecious. The calyx is well seen.

Fruit

American ash, the photo of which we have placed in this article, has the fruit-lionfish. Their length can vary from 2.4 to 3.4 cm. Nuts are a little less than half the size of a lionfish. They have a regular cylindrical shape, the wings are not fringed.

American ash blooms from mid-April to early May (before the appearance of leaves). At the moment when ready to receive the pollen of the stigmas of female flowers, male neighboring flowers are still not fully ripening. Therefore, it is impregnated with pollen from other trees. Fruiting from August to October.

The fruits of ash are rich in fats (up to 30%), so people used to eat them for a long time. In England in the XVIII century, they canned in an immature form and used as a spicy seasoning for meat and vegetable dishes. In spring, the tree gives off sweet juice, which is used as a substitute for sucrose.

On fertile soils, the American ash, the photo of which you see in the article, is growing rapidly. The plant is frost-hardy, but sometimes it is damaged by late spring frosts. Fruits the tree from twenty-five to forty years. Spreads self-seeded, quite often wild.

Soils

Ash is an American not very fastidious to soils, but prefers weakly acidic fertile soils. Not bad develops and in wetlands. Poorly tolerates drought. Most often it is adjacent to alder, oak, maple. It rarely forms frequent plantations. It adapts well to the conditions of the city. In the US it is used as an ornamental plant.

Reproduction

In the wild, American ash is multiplied by layers, stems and seeds. In artificial plantations, seeds that are previously subjected to stratification are more often used.

Use in medicine

Bark and ash leaves have been treated for a long time with respiratory organs, radiculitis. Often used as a laxative and diuretic and as a full-fledged substitute for quinine. Seren Samonik (Roman physician) described in his works the use of ash seeds for the treatment of cough, dropsy, liver diseases. Ancient Germans and Greeks claimed that the juice of ash is able to heal from a snake bite.

Today, American ash is used in homeopathy and folk medicine. For the manufacture of medicines, bark, leaves and fruits of ash are used. The bark is harvested in the spring, and the leaves are harvested at the beginning of summer. The leaves contain:

• Organic acids;
• Carbohydrates;
• essential oils;
• carotene;
• Salonins;
• Vitamin C;
• tannins.

No less useful substances are contained in the bark:

• Phenols;
• Carbohydrates;
• Coumarins;
• Alkaloids;
• Flavonoids.

Preparations based on ash have tonic and hemostatic, astringent and antipyretic, diuretic and laxative, antispasmodic and antimicrobial, antitussive and antirheumatic properties.

Tincture of fruits is used externally with varicose veins. Juice is used to produce mannitol, which in dried form is used in the diet of patients with diabetes mellitus. However, one should not forget that ash pollen is the strongest allergen that can provoke the development of contact dermatitis.

Interesting Facts

• This tree has several folk names - holly, ash tree, ash-tree. Often neighbors with oak and maple. Watching the ash and oak in the spring, people said that if the first leaves appear first on the oak, the summer will be arid.
• The ancient Greeks used ash leaf juice to heal wounds after the bites of poisonous snakes.
• Juice obtained from the branches was buried with eyes to improve vision and give them shine.
• In Russia, the bark of ash was used to combat malaria and fever. Many people worshiped the ash tree. He was called the "tree of knowledge", considered a symbol of life and wisdom.
• In the folklore of Ukraine he represented suffering. The ancient Scandinavian forces of nature personified a huge ash tree that supported the firmament.
• In magic, he became the personification of good and evil. Psychics believe that the tree has a powerful energy.
• In the XIX century, the word "ash" was used in the female gender.