''Fraxinus albicans'', commonly called the Texas ash, is a species of tree in the olive family ( Oleaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found from eastern Texas and southern

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

in the United States, to the state of

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

in Mexico. Its natural habitat is in dry, rocky slopes, often over limestone.''Fraxinus texensis''
Oklahoma Biological Survey

Description

It is a small deciduous tree growing to 10 m tall, with a trunk up to 30 cm diameter. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are 13–20 cm long, pinnately compound with usually five rounded leaflets 3–7.5 cm long and 2–5 cm broad. The flowers are purple, produced in small clusters in early spring; like all ashes, the Texas ash is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

, with male and female flowers on separate trees. The fruit is a

samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

1.5–3 cm long, with an apical wing. It is long-lived and drought tolerant. Like other species in the section ''Melioides'', ''Fraxinus albicans'' is

, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals.

Taxonomy

''Fraxinus albicans'' is closely related to '' Fraxinus americana'' (white ash), and is sometimes treated as a variety of it. Where they co-occur, ''Fraxinus albicans'' is found in dry habitats while ''Fraxinus americana'' is found in mesic bottoms. ''Fraxinus albicans'' can be morphologically distinguished by its smaller leaves, smaller and more rounded leaflets, and smaller samaras.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q22112239, from2=Q5494017 albicans Flora of Oklahoma Flora of Texas Dioecious plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status