Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants
   
 
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Plant Image
Leaves
Schnebly Hill Road, E of Sedona
Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Plant Image
Flowers
Gaddis Canyon, W of Camp Verde
Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Plant Description

Origin: Native  Similar Species: Fraxinus lowellii, Fraxinus velutina
General Description: Deciduous. Small tree with a short, crooked trunk and rounded crown of stout, curved branches. Trunk diameter to 6 inches.
Identification notes: Shrub or small tree, twigs square, smooth or hairy. Leaves single or pinnately compound. Leaf stem equal to the length of a single leaf. Flowers perfect or female, petals none. Fruit is a winged seed; wings of fruit extend nearly to the base of the body.
Height: 20 feet     Width: 10 feet


Habitat

Habitat Description: Found in canyons, bottomlands and washes in lower elevations, often on dry rocky slopes in pinyon/juniper woodlands in higher elevations.
Plant Communities: Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland
Elevation: 2000 - 6500 feet


Flowers

Color: Greenish or pale green   Shape: Inconspicuous in elongated clusters    Tubular: N   Flowering Period: Mar - May
Description: Has no petals, only sepals. Many flowers occur together in small, hairy, short-branched clusters on the previous year's twigs; some flowers perfect, others female only.


Leaves

Leaf Color: Dark green   Type: Simple   Shape: Round or oval   Margin: Toothed   Attachment: Opposite   Hairs: N
Description: Leaves simple or pinnately compound with 3 to 7 leaflets. Leaves nearly round but short-pointed at tips, thick. Pale green color below. Hairless. 2 to 3 inches long, 1 to 2 inches wide. Inconspicuously wavy-toothed or without teeth; blunt at bases.


Fruit

Color: Brown   Type: Winged   Description: Dry, papery, winged to the seed base, flattened, maple-like key with elliptical, rounded wing. 3/8 inch wide and 3/4 inch long. Clustered together. Maturing in summer. Can remain viable on ground for many years.


Bark/Branches

Bark Color: Dark brown to gray    Bark Texture (Mature): Rough   Bark and Branch Description: Furrowed into narrow ridges. Young twigs are square but may later become rounded. Twigs are orange in color at first and then turn brown to ashy gray.
Spines, thorns or prickles: N

  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetail.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
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