Fraxinus lanuginosa (Japanese ash; Japanese: アオダモ Aodamo) is a species of ash native to Japan and to the Primorye region of eastern Russia.[1][2]
Fraxinus lanuginosa is a medium-sized deciduoustree growing to 10–15 m tall with a trunk up to 50 cm diameter. The bark is smooth, dark grey. The buds are pale pinkish-brown to grey-brown, with a dense covering of short grey hairs. The leaves are in opposite pairs, pinnate, 10–15 cm long, with 3–7 leaflets; the leaflets are broad ovoid, 4–7 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, downy at the base on the underside, with a finely serrated margin, and short indistinct petiolules. The flowers are produced in panicles after the new leaves appear in late spring, each flower with four slender creamy white petals 5–7 mm long; they are pollinated by insects. The fruit is a slender samara 2–4 cm long and 3–5 mm broad, reddish, ripening brown.[3][4][5][6]
In the population of F. lanuginosa native to central Hokkaidō, northern Japan, "hermaphrodites and males commonly coexist in populations of the species. Hermaphrodites and males have identical flowering phenologies and pollen morphologies".[7]
It is closely related to Fraxinus ornus from Europe and southwest Asia, sharing similar flower characters.[6]
The wood is strong and hard, with a tenacity that allows it to be bent into curves, such as for making tennis rackets and skis.[8] Its wood is also used in the making of baseball bats[9] and electric guitars.[10]
^ abBean, W. J. (1978). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles 8th ed., vol. 2. John Murray ISBN0-7195-2256-0.
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Kiyoshi Ishida & Tsutom Hiura (1998). Guest Pollen Fertility and Flowering Phenology in an Androdioecious Tree, Fraxinus lanuginosa (Oleaceae), in Hokkaido, Japan. International Journal of Plant Sciences 159: 941–947.
^Nishikawa, Takaaki; Koizumi, Akio (2016). Shurui·Tokucho kara zaishitsu·yoto made wakaru juki to mokuzai no zukan [Illustrated Handbook of Trees and Their Lumber: from Species and Characteristics to Quality and Applications] (in Japanese). Sogensha. p. 8. ISBN978-4422440064.
^Muto Goichi, Koizumi Akio, Hirai Takuro (2005) Mechanical characteristics of aodamo (Fraxinus lanuginosa) as baseball bats. Nihon Kikai Gakkai Sekkei Kogaku, Shisutemu Bumon Koenkai Koen Ronbunshu15 304-05 [1]Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
Peter B. Kitin, Tomoyuki Fujii, Hisashi Abe and Ryo Funada (2004). Anatomy of the vessel network within and between tree rings of Fraxinus lanuginosa (Oleaceae). American Journal of Botany 91: 779–788. Available online
