# Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)

> Green ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica: a medium tree of 50 to 75 feet for zones 2 to 9, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/green-ash/

![A group of green ash trees with rounded, leafy crowns standing in tall grass under a blue sky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/green-ash-1000.jpg?v=abbe02c7 "A group of green ash trees in grassland on September 6, 2009. Green ash seeds ripen by early October and fall from October into the spring.")
*Photo: Matt Lavin, [CC BY-SA 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFraxinus_pennsylvanica_(5107490717).jpg))*

Medium tree, 50 to 75 feet, zones 2 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow green ash, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Green Ash |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Red ash, Darlington ash, river ash |
| Form | Medium tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 75 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 50 |
| Zones | 2 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, salt tolerant |
| Flowers | March to May |
| Fruit | Samaras, September to March |
| First crop | 10 years (flowering usually starts at 20 to 25 feet tall) |
| Pollination | Separate male and female trees. Male and female flowers grow on separate trees, so a female tree bears seed only with a male nearby. |
| Lifespan | Can live 250 years. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on green ash marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 39 states and the District of Columbia |

Green ash is native in 39 states and the District of Columbia: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI), [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM) and [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=green-ash): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=green-ash): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=green-ash&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=green-ash): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=green-ash): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=green-ash): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=green-ash): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=green-ash:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=green-ash): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=green-ash): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=green-ash): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [River Birch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/river-birch/index.html.md) (*Betula nigra*): medium tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Peachleaf Willow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/peachleaf-willow/index.html.md) (*Salix amygdaloides*): medium tree, 35 to 60 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Water Locust](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/water-locust/index.html.md) (*Gleditsia aquatica*): medium tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 6 to 10. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Ogeechee Tupelo](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ogeechee-tupelo/index.html.md) (*Nyssa ogeche*): medium tree, 25 to 45 feet, zones 6 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Swamp White Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-white-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus bicolor*): medium tree, 50 to 60 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus americana*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Every companion of green ash in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=green-ash)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, Iowa State University Extension, the USDA PLANTS Database and the US Forest Service.