Centennial Mountain ash tree village Chernovrah

Overview

Mountain ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is a tall deciduous tree with light, tough, elastic wood, belonging to the Olive family.

Light-loving and heat-loving species. It usually reaches a height of the order of 20-35 m (in some cases even up to 46 m), with a trunk diameter of up to 2 m (the known maximum is 3.5 m). The stem is slender, in young trees with pale gray, smooth bark, which at a later stage acquires a longitudinal reticulate groove.

Mountain ash can be over 250 years old. Like other species of the genus Fraxinus, it grows rapidly and begins to bear fruit only at the age of 25-40, depending on environmental conditions. The buds on its winter branches distinguish it from Fraxinus angustifolia (brown buds) and Fraxinus ornus (gray buds), being black in color. It blooms in April - May, before leafing.

The flowers are without calyx and corolla; they may be monoecious, but more often they are dioecious (male and female flowers are on separate trees).

Its leaves are complex tendrils - they are composed of 7 to 13 elliptical / lanceolate / back lanceolate leaflets with a finely drawn edge.

The fruit is the so-called "winged". The seeds ripen in September - October. The fruits, clustered in large bundles (50 - 150 in number), often remain in the crown after autumn, which allows different species of birds (especially tits) to feed on them during the cold months.

Mountain ash wood is used to make furniture. Its bark contains tannins and is used to obtain black and brown paint.

The oldest tree of this species is preserved in the village of Chernovrah, Tryavna municipality. It is a protected species.

Location: Chernovrah village, asphalt road network near Chernovrah village