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Ash trees belong to the Fraxinus species and grow commonly in cities and forests. It can be easy to mistake an Ash tree for Black Walnut, Maple, Boxelder, Hickory or Dogwood trees. You will need to compare several plant characteristics, including the leaves, branches and seeds, to confidently identify an Ash tree.

Method 1 of 2:
Comparing Branches Download Article

  1. 1
    Pull down a branch from the tree so that you can view it more easily. You can also pick up a dead stick that has already fallen to the ground.
  2. 2
    View whether the branches have opposite branching. This means that branches originate from the same point when they extend from the main branch. Other trees have alternate branching, with branches alternating left and right as they grow from the main branch.[1]
    • Boxelder, Dogwood and Maple trees also have opposite branching.
    • Hickory, Butternut, Oak, Cottonwood and Quaking Aspen trees have alternate branching.
  3. 3
    Find the buds for new branches. They should be directly across, or opposite, from each other. Occasionally, a bud with die and fall off, causing it to lose a mate.

Method 2 of 2:
Comparing Leaves and Seeds Download Article

  1. 1
    Find a branch with leaves on it. An Ash tree has a compound leaf structure, rather than a single leaf structure. Look for the thickened base of the stem, called a petiole, and decide whether there is a single leaf or 5 to 11 smaller leaflets that branch out from that point.[2]
    • These 5 to 11 leaflets compose a single leaf.
    • A Maple tree is an example of a single leaf tree that has one large leaf extending from the petiole.
  2. 2
    Combine the opposite branching and compound leaves to decide if the tree is an Ash. The only other tree that shares these two characteristics is a Boxelder tree. Yet, the Boxelder tree has three to five leaflets instead of five to 11.[3]
  3. 3
    Find light green or brown clusters of seeds. They are paddle shaped and look like small delicate leaves. They hang down in large groupings from the tree.
    • Don’t assume a tree without seeds is not an ash tree. Some types of ash are seedless. Seed clusters only form in late fall and early winter.
    • Boxelder seeds are also clustered; however, they look like wings, rather than paddles.

Community Q&A

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  • Question
    How can I tell if an ash tree has borers?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    You'll see "blonding" of the bark, as woodpeckers remove the outer gray bark and expose inner yellow bark to get at the EAB larvae.
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      • The Mountain Ash tree is not considered a type of Ash tree. It is part of the Sorbus species. It also has alternate branching, red seeds and nine to 15 leaflets.
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      • Ash trees are endangered by emerald ash borers in some locations in the Midwest. Planting new ash trees is discouraged because of the prevalence of this insect.

      Things You'll Need

      • Branches
      • Leaves
      • Seed clusters

      About This Article

      wikiHow Staff
      Co-authored by:
      17 votes - 82%
      Co-authors: 11
      Updated: April 21, 2021
      Views: 109,596
      Categories: Plant Identification
      Article SummaryX

      To identify an ash tree, the first thing you should look for is opposite branching. This means that pairs of branches extend off of the tree from the same point but on opposite sides. Ash trees always have opposite branching. Now look at the tree’s leaves. Ash trees have compound leaves, which are leaves that are made up of multiple leaflets instead of a single leaf. Ash trees usually have 5-9 leaflets per leaf. Only Ash trees and Boxelder trees have both opposite branching and compound leaves, but the leaves on Boxelder trees usually only have 3-5 leaflets, not 5-9. You can also examine the tree’s bark. Older ash trees usually have bark with a distinct diamond pattern, though young ash trees have smooth bark. For more advice, including how to identify an Ash tree by its seeds, read on!

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