# White Ash (Fraxinus americana)

> White ash, Fraxinus americana: a large tree of 50 to 120 feet for zones 3 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/white-ash/

![A white ash compound leaf of broad, smooth-edged green leaflets set in opposite pairs](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/white-ash-1000.jpg?v=6eddef1a "A white ash leaf along a walking path in Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia, on July 25, 2020. It flowers in April and May, with its leaves or just before them.")
*Photo: Famartin, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A2020-07-25_10_55_42_White_Ash_leaves_along_a_walking_path_in_the_Franklin_Farm_section_of_Oak_Hill%2C_Fairfax_County%2C_Virginia.jpg))*

Large tree, 50 to 120 feet, zones 3 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow white 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 | White Ash |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | American ash, Biltmore ash, Biltmore white ash, cane ash, smallseed white ash, Canadian ash |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 50 to 120 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 80 |
| Zones | 3 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color |
| Flowers | April to May |
| Fruit | Samaras, September to December |
| First crop | 20 years |
| 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 | Lives up to 300 years, and the oldest dated one reached 198. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on white ash marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes, stream banks, dry uplands and floodplain forests |
| Native in | 35 states and the District of Columbia |

White ash is native in 35 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), [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), [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), [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) 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), where it is naturalized, not native, and as introduced in [Hawaii](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=HI).

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=white-ash): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=white-ash): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=white-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=white-ash): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=white-ash): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=white-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=white-ash): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=white-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=white-ash): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=white-ash): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=white-ash): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Shumard Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/shumard-oak/index.html.md) (*Quercus shumardii*): large tree, 50 to 80 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, dry uplands and floodplain forests in the wild.
- [Slippery Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/slippery-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus rubra*): medium tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, dry uplands and floodplain forests in the wild.
- [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis occidentalis*): large tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares stream banks, dry uplands and floodplain forests in the wild.
- [Black Maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-maple/index.html.md) (*Acer nigrum*): large tree, 60 to 75 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
- [Cedar Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cedar-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus crassifolia*): large tree, 50 to 70 feet, zones 6 to 9. Shares stream banks, dry uplands and floodplain forests in the wild.
- [Rock Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rock-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus thomasii*): large tree, 70 to 90 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks and dry uplands in the wild.
- [Every companion of white ash in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=white-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, the US Forest Service, Virginia Tech's dendrology site and UF/IFAS Extension.