{"id":19128,"date":"2022-03-25T12:30:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T16:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=19128"},"modified":"2025-07-31T12:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T16:45:14","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-white-ash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-white-ash\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: White Ash"},"content":{"rendered":"

The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was\u00a0published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species.\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 70 years later, the publication has\u00a0been updated through a joint effort by the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Indiana 4-H<\/a>, and\u00a0the Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

The full publication<\/a> is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.<\/p>\n

\"White<\/a>Each week, the Intro to Trees of Indiana web series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book, paired with an ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester Lenny Farlee<\/a> to help visualize each species as it stands in the woods. Threats to species health as well as also insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided through additional resources as well as the\u00a0Hardwoods of the Central Midwest<\/a> exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

First up, we\u00a0introduce the white ash or fraxinus americana<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The white ash, which is typically found on higher and drier sites than its cohorts in the ash family, has been threatened due to the invasive beetle called the emerald ash borer. This species features opposite leaf arrangement, compound leaves with seven to nine leaflets, and squatty terminal buds as well as a bud that dips down into the leaf scar, which resembles a smiley face. The bark is gray, has a corky feel, and features an interlacing network of ridges forming a diamond shape.<\/p>\n