It's caused by lichens. If you look very closely you can see the fruiting bodies – like tiny black mushrooms or puffballs. Lichens are drawn to ash trees because they have a relatively high pH. Elm is the same and the loss of habitat following Dutch Elm Disease saw many lichens migrating to ash instead. Mosses like it too.
As the trees age, fissures appear in the bark and they develop deep wrinkles. A bit like us humans I suppose.
The buds of ash are one of its key identifying features. The buds are a sooty black, with one larger bud at the end of each shoot bracketed by an opposite pair of smaller buds a little further back.
The leaves are quite easy to identify too. They're a compound leaf, typically comprising 3- 6 opposite pairs of light green, oval leaflets with an additional singular 'terminal' leaflet at the end. One characteristic of ash leaves is that they fall when they are still green.
Male and female flowers typically grow on different trees, although a single tree can have male and female flowers on different branches. Both male and female flowers are purple and appear before the leaves in spring, growing in spiked clusters at the tips of twigs.
Once the female flowers have been pollinated by wind, they develop into conspicuous winged fruits, or 'keys', in late summer and autumn. These are edible and are best when gathered in May when still soft and green. The ash is related to the olive tree and there is a hint of olive flavour. Traditionally, they were pickled to preserve them (they are delicious if you add some garlic and chili to the pickling liquid).
They turn brown and fall from the tree in winter and the seeds are dispersed by birds and mammals.
In Norse mythology, ash was the 'Tree of Life' and the first man on Earth was said to have come from an ash tree called Yggdrasil. Even today it is sometimes known as the 'Venus of the woods'. In Britain, druids regarded the ash as sacred and their wands were often made of its wood. The tree was thought to have mystical properties and its wood was burned to ward off evil spirits.
It's popular with woodworkers too as it's one of the toughest hardwoods and resists splintering. It's the wood of choice for making handles for things like hammers, axes, spades, hockey sticks and oars. It's also prized for furniture making as it has a tight, attractive grain and grows very straight. In the 19th century ash was commonly used to construct carriages, and Britain’s Morgan Motor Company still grows ash to make the frames for its hand-built cars.
This particular ash grove near me looks beautiful in the early morning where the low sun casts long shadows.
Sadly, these lovely trees may not be with us much longer. Ash dieback (or Chalara dieback) is a disease caused by a fungus. It causes the trees to lose their leaves and usually results in their death. The fungus originated in Asia and got here 30 years ago where our native ash species had no natural defences against it. Tragically, it is thought that tens of thousands of ash trees will die - perhaps even as much as 80% of the wild population. This is going to have a devastating impact on the biodiversity of our woodlands and hedgerows.
One particularly sad example of ash dieback can be found in Wales where artist David Nash created a beautiful work of land art called Ash Dome. He planted the ash trees in 1977 and has carefully nurtured and trained them ever since. You may recognise it from an ident that appears on BBC4.
But now it's dying and there's nothing he can do to save it. 'People have told me all sort of remedies for ash dieback but the whole thing would become too precious,' says Nash. 'It’s a work depending on natural forces, so ash dieback is a natural force. I have to accept that as part of the original concept.'
It's such a shame as Nash had hoped that the work would outlive him.
It's also tragic that we may soon see our landscape changed forever by the loss of these beautiful trees.
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