Blue ash

Blue ash

Description

1) Another name for Bremen blue.

2) A variety of ash tree, Fraxinus quadrangulata, native to central North America. Blue ash produces a strong flexible wood used for furniture, tool handles, and sporting goods (baseball bats). Early settlers made a blue dye from the inner bark of the tree.

Synonyms and Related Terms

2) Fraxinus quadrangulata

Physical and Chemical Properties

2) Medium tree growing to 20 m.

• Bark=ashy gray to light brown with scale changing to deep, irregular fissures with age, twigs have four ridges producing a squarish shape.
• Leaves= compound with 7-9 opposite, lanceolate, serrated leaflets.
• Fruit=wide-winged samara with flat seed.

Resources and Citations

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 75

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Virginia Tech Dendrology website at www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/main.htm (Accessed Dec. 9, 2005)

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ash (Accessed Dec. 9, 2005)