Oregon ash
Fraxinus latifolia

Family: Oleaceae.

Type: Deciduous tree.

Branching: Opposite (Mad = maple, ash, dogwood).

Leaves: Pinnately compound (arranged linearly along a central rachis). The terminal leaflet has a long petiolule, while the other leaflets are attached to the rachis with a much shorter stalk. Leaflet margins are entire to toothed.

Twig: Twig is round in internodes, but at the point of attachment of leaves, it becomes flattened. This is a good distinguishing trait.

Fruit & Flower: Fruit is a samara with a straight, flat blade. Samaras are clustered individually, not in pairs as in the maple.

Miscellaneous: The ash is in the same family as olives. We are near the southernmost extent of the Oregon ash's range; it is common in riparian woodlands up into British Columbia. The ash can send up sprouts from its root collar, a swelling where the root and the stem meet, leading to a growth pattern with a large main stem and smaller side stems from the same base. Modes of asexual reproduction are common in the riparian zone, due to high disturbance.