Common ash, Fraxinus excelsior : botanical card

Botanical card devoted to the common ash, Fraxinus excelsior

The common ash zone

The common ash grows everywhere in France, except in the southeast. It can be found from the north of Picardy to Champagne, through the Ardennes or Franche-Comté.

Long venerated in the ancient European religions, the ash was the symbol of life.

Portrait of the common ash

The common ash can live up to 150 to 200 years. It is a large tree that can reach 30 meters in height.

It has a deciduous and sparse foliage. It is a pioneer species, which seeks light. It colonizes all available spaces, including those that are not suitable for it (where it will eventually disappear).

The male and female flowers of the ash, distinct but sometimes hermaphrodite, are carried by the same individual. The flowering takes place in April, before the foliage and the pollination is done thanks to the wind.

The enemies of the common ash

• The hornet: it is a major enemy of the ash tree. It mutilates the wood to suck the sap and take the fibers necessary to build its nest.
• Black heart of the ash: it is an alteration of the wood which affects the old subjects, in particular those implanted on wet or clayey grounds.

The qualities of common ash wood

Ash wood is pearly white in color, hard and medium-heavy. In general, it is a quality wood, with good mechanical resistance, especially in bending. For this reason, it was used for the manufacture of utilitarian objects requiring a certain resistance, such as tool handles. It was also used to make horse-drawn carriages, ship frames and tennis rackets. Today, its use is more oriented towards furniture, especially curved furniture pieces. The most beautiful logs are sliced to provide decorative veneers.

A little story: in the past, ash wood was said to have the power to scare away snakes.

Planting advice

The common ash needs a well-distributed rainfall during the year, possibly compensated by a good water reserve in the soil. It also appreciates atmospheric humidity. On the other hand, it fears spring frosts, which can cause forks to appear.

For an optimal development, offer it a rich, neutral or slightly acid soil.

Stories of oaks

A remarkable tree in many regions, the oak has accompanied man in his daily life since prehistoric times. Let's go and discover this thousand-year-old sovereign.

An essential tree

The oak provides man with protection through its solid frameworks, fire through its wood and charcoal, food through its boiled acorns, and medicine through its tannic bark. It has adapted to all European climates, and comes in many species. Pedunculate and sessile oaks are among the most common, holm and cork oaks appreciate milder climates, the pubescent oak is satisfied with arid limestone soils, the tauzin oak prefers light siliceous soils... Trees are omnipresent in our daily lives. The pedunculate and the sessile oak mark the majority of our landscapes with their powerful silhouettes, and if their wood is always famous, their nourishing role, their medicinal properties, some forgotten utilities, deserve to be rediscovered.

Oak recipes

If acorns have long been used to feed pigs, their contribution to human nutrition was far from negligible. All the more so in times of famine. They have the advantage of being rich in starch, but their harshness translates into a high content of tannins, toxic, causing digestive, renal and nervous disorders. The detoxification takes place by roasting, which allows the elimination of part of the tannins. The boiling with several waters is a sure process, provided that all the stages are respected with precision. The acorns thus carefully removed from their tannins could be dried and then ground into flour, mixed with wheat or other cereals and used to make pancakes. From prehistoric times to the last world war, acorns provided an important resource. Roasted, they were also used as a substitute for coffee.

Some oaks in southern Europe produce sweet acorns, the horehound oak, Quercus ilex sbp.ballota, but also the tauzin oak or the cork oak. Their uses were close to the chestnut.

Aged in oak barrels, the wine and various alcohols take on an incomparable color and bouquet. The wood of the barrels comes from different forests, each one conferring specific qualities.

Medicinal properties

The medicinal properties of oak are not well known, but they deserve attention. All oaks have a high concentration of tannins and are therefore classified as astringent tonics. The bark of the branches of 3, 4 years old, used fresh or dried, was reputed for its haemostatic, febrifuge, antiseptic, anti-diarrheal actions... In external use its use covers a great number of evils, the internal use is more delicate, the possibilities of intoxications being quite real. The leaves, harvested in summer, dried, show properties similar to the bark. The acorns also have similar properties. The galls, numerous and varied on the oaks, concentrate the tannins and are used like the bark, with caution.

The oak, a true ecosystem, lives with a whole host of insects, spiders, birds, but also many plants, some of which also have medicinal properties. Combined with their host tree, polypode, mistletoe, lichen, were all the more sought after.

Uses of the oak

The pedunculate oak and the sessile oak have more or less the same properties, the distinction of their woods is difficult. Of excellent quality, these woods have many uses. Frames, railroad sleepers, posts, are known to be strong and indestructible. Naval constructions, bridges, locks, took advantage of its unlimited durability in wet environments. Hubs, wheels, rims of old tanks still resist to bad weather, exposed now in parks and gardens. Carpentry, cabinet making, find many uses for it.

Cut, split easily, the wood will become heat in the fireplaces, or charcoal for the metallurgy. The pollarded trees, regularly pruned for the faggots, are noticed for their particular port. The tannin of the bark has long treated the skins, sold in the form of powder called "tan". The dried galls, combined with water and iron, were used to make a black salt, the basis for writing ink.

Some stories...

The oak tree is surrounded by many myths and legends. The gods of war, lightning and storms lived in it. But it was also a solar tree, of fertility, strength, longevity and endurance.

The dryads reside under its bark, and where they live can spring a living source ...

A sacred tree, the oak was perhaps one of the first temples under which men gathered.

Linked since prehistoric times, man and the oak have seen their relationship evolve over the centuries. Solid and branched, it now hosts the most beautiful huts, and the dreams of children.

Stories of Ash

The Ash tree has followed in the footsteps of man since prehistoric times. Foraging, medicinal, tool handles, bow wood, it was said to have the power to protect from snakes.

An everyday tree

Ash trees can be found along meadows, along roadsides, mixed with oak trees in forests, on fresh and deep fertile soils. Common everywhere in France, except the Mediterranean region, they have been part of people's daily lives for a long time. Of the Oleaceae family, three species of Ash are found in Europe, including the high Ash, Fraxinus excelsior. A popular tree with many uses, it can exceed 35 meters in height, straight, slender, flexible, young among its own kind, hardly exceeding two hundred years.

Ash recipes

The ash tree, renowned in the past, is back in fashion. A sparkling drink to be consumed fresh, it is concocted from infused leaves. Sugar and yeast are added, after a time of fermentation in carboys the juice obtained is preserved in pressure bottles.

The "bird's tongues", fruits or samaras of the ash trees, are prepared, still green, as condiments after being boiled and put in brine or vinegar.

From the memory of the breeder, the Ash foliage was used to feed the animals, in vegetation but also dried as a complement to the winter fodder. The characteristic silhouettes of pruned and re-pruned ash trees, known as trognes or pollards, still stand in hedges and forests.

Medicinal properties, the tree of centenarians

The Ash is reputed to act against joint pain and is used in the composition of "centenarian" teas. The leaves in infusion, the fruits rather in decoction, are indeed antirheumatic, antigouty, but also diuretic, tonic, laxative, sudorific.

The bark, renowned for its febrifuge properties, was worth naming the Ash the Quinquina of Europe. It is also cited for its astringent, tonic and expectorant properties. The juice extracted from the leaves would be an interesting antivenom to study.

Uses of Ash

Although Ash wood is moderately hard, it is very supple and elastic, strong and resistant to bending and shocks. It is particularly suitable for making handles, shovels, picks, etc. Its qualities allow it to be used in veneers, in carpentry, but also for oars, rifle butts, clogs, bending wood... The burls and roots are appreciated in cabinet making, it also turns very well. And if it is not worked, it becomes firewood or coal, of quality. And among its many qualities, we can add its dyeing use, the bark of the branches gives a beautiful greenish color.

Some stories...

If its branches were used as a magic wand, the Ash would have had the power to keep away snakes, which feared its shadow, its leaves on the ground. Legend that deserves to be studied...

It is also found in the tales and legends of trees, its powerful roots, its solid foundation, its top slung towards the sky have earned it the right to be assimilated to Yggdrasil, the mythical world tree, more often corresponding to the Yew or the Oak.

Today's Ash in its relationship with man can find a new place in parks and gardens, as much for its uses as for its ornamental qualities.

Chickweed, botanical description

The area of the black ash tree

The common nannyberry is very present in Lorraine and Alsace. It is found scattered in the oak forests or oak-beech forests of the Lorraine plateau, as well as in the beech forests of the limestone plateaus. It is rarer in the hills under the Vosges.

Portrait of the mountain ash

Chestnut tree is a precious wood species that can live for several centuries.

Despite its slow growth, it can climb to 15 or even 17 meters high. It colonizes the land in small groups.

Its foliage is quite dense and its white flowers appear in May. They have male and female organs and are pollinated by insects.

Enemies of the mountain ash

Chestnut is susceptible to 'fire blight', an infectious disease found in many trees of the Rosaceae family, to which it belongs.

Symptoms of the disease: the tips of the branches take on a burnt appearance.

The other enemy of the torminal tree is the torse fiber, a genetic defect that depreciates its wood, which is then said to be screwed.

The qualities of the wood of the black cherry tree

The wood of the black ash is generally reddish, more or less dark, with a fine grain, a density and an appreciable heaviness.

It is also a stable wood, which works well. It is used in particular to manufacture precision instruments and mechanical parts. Thus, it is used in violin making and marquetry.

Planting advice

The black locust is a species of plain and hillside that supports low temperatures and resists well to spring frosts. It also tolerates summer droughts and warm exposures.

It is a light tree that appreciates open exposures. However, a light shade, not very sustained, improves its form.

If it remains in a coppice for several years, it will eventually lack vigor and, without clearance, it will wither.

It likes to grow in soils that receive a regular supply of water, but it can be satisfied with drier environments.

Alder, the guardian of open water

The Alder has followed man along the rivers for thousands of years. Medicinal tree, fertilizer of wetlands, wood with multiple uses, it is also the guardian, often beneficial, sometimes worrying, of open waters.

The tree of water

The Alder, Aulne, Verne, Vergne, erects its trunks with dark bark, anchors its roots on the banks of rivers, streams, ponds. Water is its element. Alongside the Willow and the Poplar, it settles, often alone or in small groups, the forests of yesteryear rarely exist anymore. For a long time, it has lived alongside the beaver, and knows how to reject the stump at each cut. But even its vigorous rejections will not guarantee it a long life, 100 years at most. This cousin of the birch will be adorned all winter with small dark cones, to be picked for Christmas decorations, with a few pieces of bark to fight against fever...

Medicinal properties

Forgotten, the medicinal properties of the Alder were once recognized. The leaves are to be collected at the end of spring, they can be dried or used fresh. In internal use they would be sudorific, diuretic and vermifuge. The external use is recommended for the feet of the walkers, deposited fresh in the shoes they would have soothing virtues. They are also quoted as antigalactogenic, allowing to decrease and to dry up the rises of milk. Wrapping fresh leaves under a thick quilt would alleviate any rheumatism.

The properties of the bark should not be minimized, harvested at the end of winter, just before the rise of sap, it is used for its astringent, tonic, relaxing and febrifuge virtues.

Agricultural uses

The networked roots of the Alder provide an effective fixation of the banks, avoiding the disappearance of agricultural plots, washed away at each flood. Foresters and farmers also use it to enrich the land with nitrogen. Used to difficult soils, the Alder has developed a root symbiosis with a nitrogen-fixing bacterium, just like legumes. Its cultivation thus makes it possible to prepare future exploitable plots.

A valued wood

Reddish when cut, Alder wood lightens up when dried. Homogeneous, light and soft, it is used for sculpture, and is sought after by turners. It is easily stained black, and thus resembles ebony. Clogs, but also fiber panels, containers and kitchen cutlery, its uses are multiple, up to its long stems perfect for ladders. Outside, exposed alternately to dryness and humidity, it rots very quickly. But at constant humidity or immersed, it is rot-proof, and was used as a drain (faggots), gutters, and especially pilings, the major foundation of the houses of Venice.

Various uses

In fire, Alder emits a lively heat giving off very little smoke, a property sought after by bakers and glassmakers. The dyeing properties of its bark, black tint, is still used for felt and hats. The tanning of skins in the Nordic countries uses its high concentration of tannins.

Its branches would have a certain attraction for many insects and mites, the leaves deposited on the ground serve as a refuge for fleas, ticks, various parasites. It is enough after a few hours to collect the whole and to burn, the places are clean.

Some stories

The rivers share their legends with the Aulne, the tree that guards the banks. Like the waters, it carries secrets and spells, beneficial or evil depending on the region. It is said to be the "witches' tree", its charcoal was used to draw magic circles, its branches to make fairy wands. Does its red color when felled come from blood tears? The druids would have passed there, it is said that they read the future in the smoke of the barks...

Familiar to man and riverbanks, but forgotten in the landscape, the Aulne is a tree to be rediscovered. For its properties, its stories, but also its place in the wet ecosystems, a real refuge for a varied fauna, from the tip of the leaves to the multiple nooks and crannies of its roots plunging into the water.

Beech, a tree of elegant nobility

The beech forest has accompanied man for thousands of years. Its names, fau, fayard, fouteau, fouillard, resound in the shade of many localities. Let's discover this elegantly noble tree.

A tree of the shade

The common beech, Fagus sylvatica, appreciates the humidity and coolness of the mountains, the northern or sub-Atlantic regions, the shade of its fellow trees... Present in many French forests, it sometimes imposes itself in exclusive beech forests, or associates with oak, ash, fir, and sometimes spruce. Adapted to all types of soils, deep in valleys, superficial on outcropping rocks, it will show some reluctance for acidity. Remarkable tree of our forests, the beech owes its reputation to its haughty beauty, to its qualities of firewood, but also to its small edible fruits, its medicinal properties buried in our memories, its varied uses and its forgotten legends.

Recipes from beech

"Beech acorn", the common name for the beech tree's crown, recalls the time when pigs were fed with the fruits of the forest, under the oak or beech groves. But this small triangular fruit appreciated by domestic and wild animals is not disdained by man. Peeled and crunched raw, it is pleasant. Roasted in a frying pan, its flavor is even better. However, its consumption must remain limited, as the side effects are known to occur in quantity. Horses are particularly sensitive to it. If the sedge is eaten, its oil, which was extremely famous in its time, is of excellent quality, without toxic active ingredients. The only concern is the irregularity of production, as beech trees bear fruit irregularly, and 2 to 3 years can pass without fruit...

In other times, during periods of famine, boiled beechnuts and dried bark were crushed and mixed with barley or oats.

Medicinal properties

If the oak deserves attention for its multiple medicinal properties, sometimes forgotten, the beech remains discreet, in the therapeutic shadow of its colleague. Its leaves were once prescribed as detersive and astringent, its bark would also be astringent. It was compared to cinchona for its febrifuge actions, harvested on the young twigs of 2 to 3 years. Creosote, an antiseptic and disinfectant, is derived from beechwood tar. It is more used for entomological boxes than for therapeutic purposes, as it is currently considered harmful. Beech charcoal is said to be bactericidal and anti-tubercular. The buds are used in gemmotherapy, they could play a role in the functioning of the kidney.

Uses of beech

Beech adapts easily to different environments, but its wood is changed. Its colors and properties vary according to the habitat, the calcareous soils of the plain will favor a clear, yellowish white wood, easy to work, while the siliceous soils of the mountains will see a harder, nervous wood grow, turning pinkish and even reddish, more difficult to work. The uses are multiple, furniture, paper pulp, fiberboard, flooring and paneling, objects worked on the lathe, oars, shovels, agricultural tools, buckets. The clog makers considered it the best wood after walnut. Not very resistant to bad weather, it must be treated to last. Thus coated with creosote, its own tar, it will line up alongside oak to serve as railroad ties.

Although it can be worked well, except for lumber, beech has a solid reputation as a firewood, as well as for its coal.

In the past, the soft autumn leaves filled canvas bags that served as mattresses, just like dried fern.

Some stories...

Slender and majestic, smooth and shiny bark, sumptuous autumn colors... The beech would be of the nobility of trees, bearer of softness, of female knowledge. It evokes a strong vitality, a power that would come from the stones that mix with it when lichens cover them both. If it does not support lightning and solitude, different from the oak, it symbolizes mutual aid, the united forest.

The magical virtues of the beech wand, divinatory if necessary but also capable of paralyzing snakes, are still cited by some elders.

The beech was used in small sticks by the Germans to write their alphabet, the runes, its name is also found in the German literary vocabulary.

A tree of freshness, familiar to our forests and parks where the majestic silhouettes of the purple beeches stand, will the beech be able to adapt to global warming?