Fraxinus excelsior

The ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is one of the most common trees found growing in Britain. It is potentially a large tree growing to 30m (100ft) or more. Young trees initially have smooth grey bark, but with age the bark becomes cracked and fissured. The leaves are opposite and formed of 7-13 leaflets. One of the most recognisable characteristics of ash in winter are its large black opposite buds. Ash is remarkable in that some trees may produce male flowers one year and female flowers another. Some trees can also have both male and female flowers. Ash unfortunately, is suffering from ash dieback, which reached the UK in 2012. Since then it has hit a lot of ash trees quite severely, causing large dieback of the crown and canopy. Unlike Dutch elm disease which only affects elm trees of a certain size, ash dieback affects trees of all ages. This has sadly resulted in large swathes of sickly looking ash trees across the country. Although there is some hope in the fact that some individuals appear to show resistance to the disease. Where these trees are found they should be preserved in hope the subsequent offspring will inherit their parents disease resistance.