Nan Fowler wrote: > The ash variety that Stephen was questioning would most likely be > European Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) which grows over most of Northern > Europe. It has usually 11 or 13 leaflets on its leaves as opposed to > the Brown/Black or basket ash ( Fraxinus Negra) found in the swamps, > and White or Common Ash ( Fraxinus Americana) found in the uplands in > Stephen's neck of the woods, and that have 7-11 (but usually 7) and > 5-9 leaflets on their leaves respectively. > > The European ash will grow to about 60-64N, so about as far north as > the Trondheim (sp) Fjord in Norway, for instance, but I have never > seen European or any other wild ash above about 57.5 N in Scotland > (Ullapool/Inverness/Aberdeen)... Yes, Nan, the ash in question is certainly the European Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). I don't think any other species is commonly planted in the UK, except maybe in some botanic gardens or arboretums. The British Trees site that I linked to earlier says that it is "rare north of Great Glen in Scotland". However, according to the VisitOrkney site, it has been planted at Binscarth near Finstown: "Binscarth Woodland, 2.8km (1.7m) walk along the old drover’s road near Finstown. It’s easy walking along tracks, but it can be wet underfoot especially in the woods. The walk passes through the seven and a half acre Binscarth Woods, planted last century with a variety of trees including sycamore, ash, beech, hawthorn and larch..." http://www.visitorkney.com/walking.asp Though that suggests that the planting took place "last century" (i.e. the twentieth), I believe that it was mostly in the nineteenth century. While I've certainly seen them in the distance, I've never actually visited the Binscarth Woods; something else to add to the to-do list! One website suggests that Fraxinus nigra is "not a great success in Britain, where it is often damaged by late frosts". Fraxinus americana seems to be grow better: "This species is planted on a small scale, mainly in E. Europe, as a timber tree. It has the potential as a forestry tree in Britain, succeeding under conditions that are too dry or frosty for the native ash, F. excelsior." However, I don't think Orkney could be described as dry and it isn't particularly frosty either. http://www.pfaf.org/database/search_name.php?ALLNAMES=Fraxinus I must admit that I didn't know there were as many species of ash as are listed on that site; when people in the UK speak of the ash tree, they're invariably referring to the only one that's common either as a native or a planted tree, namely the European ash — also called the Common ash. "Hilliers' Manual of Trees and Shrubs" (written for the UK grower) does list quite a number of Fraxinus species and varieties — around 27 species. Fraxinus americana is said to be "a large species soon forming a noble shade tree"; F. excelsior is "a large, magnificent tree and one of the most valuable for timber"; F. angustifolia is "a large, elegant, fast-growing tree with perfectly glabrous, slender pointed leaflets". Poor old F. nigra fails to pass muster yet again, though, being dismissed as, "Not one of the best species in cultivation." Norman Tulloch