''Fraxinus anomala'' is a species of

ash tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergr ...

known by the common name single-leaf ash. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, where it grows in a number of habitats including desert scrub and chaparral. It is unusual in the genus in that some (though not all) specimens have simple leaves instead of the

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, an ...

leaves more characteristic of the group.

Description

''Fraxinus anomala'' is a deciduous

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...

or small tree approaching maximum heights of five to six meters. The leaf may be simple or it may be compound, composed of up to five leaflets which look like individual leaves. Each leaflet is oval-shaped to round and may have teeth along the edges. The nondescript brownish flowers lack petals. The fruit is a flat samara up to two centimeters long and one wide, green when young and tan to brown when mature. The samaras hang in bunches.

Distribution

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, singleleaf ash is found along the

Arizona transition zone The Arizona transition zone is a diagonal northwest-by-southeast region across central Arizona. The region is a transition from the higher-elevation Colorado Plateau in Northeast Arizona and the Basin and Range region of lower-elevation desert ...

of the Mogollon Rim. In northern Arizona's Grand Canyon, the range extends down the main canyons from southern and southeastern

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, its major range area, where the

Canyon Lands The Canyon Lands Section of the Colorado Plateau is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermontane Plateaus physiographic division in the Western United States Description The ...

also show the range entering upper reaches of river basins flowing from western

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

–

and Dolores Rivers; also the shorter Yellowjacket and McElmo Rivers in Colorado's extreme southwest. In the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

it is found in the sky island chaparral and woodland

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s. Minor locales also occur in southern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and southern

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

.Biota of North America Program, ''Fraxinus anomala''
/ref>

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Fraxinus anomala''''Fraxinus anomala'' - Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1144955

anomala ''Anomala'' is a genus of shining leaf chafers in the family of beetles known as Scarabaeidae. There are at least 1,200 described species in ''Anomala''. A common characteristic behavior of beetles in ''Anomala'' is that most grubs of these ...

Trees of Northwestern Mexico Trees of the Southwestern United States Trees of the Northwestern United States Trees of the South-Central United States Plants described in 1871 Flora without expected TNC conservation status