Fraxinus holotricha ‘Moraine’ Moraine ash

Moraine ash lines Hanover Street in the Stanford Research Park. Sairus Patel, 12 Nov 2017

Moraine ash leaves and samaras from the Stanford Research Park. Sairus Patel, 15 Nov 2023

Selected in Ohio from imported seed identified as Fraxinus holotricha (Balkan ash), Moraine ash has an upright, oval-shaped crown and keeps its leaves longer than most other local deciduous ashes. Fall color is a pleasant yellow. As the leaves drop, the clusters of twisted 1¼-inch samaras become more conspicuous and cling on throughout winter. See a row of five at the edge of the Vaden Health Center parking lot at Cowell Lane. Moraine ash lines the north side of Hanover Street south of California Avenue in the Stanford Research Park; low-branching trees grow in paired planters where nearby College Terrace streets dead-end at California Avenue.

The botanical identity of F. holotricha remains uncertain. Some authorities tentatively treat it as a synonym of F. pallisiae, which some botanists include within F. angustifolia.