Velvet Ash
Fraxinus velutina
Sycamore Creek, Mazatzal Mts, Maricopa Co., Arizona. 11 Aug. 2012.
TREE: A medium sized tree with dark gray, fissured bark.
RANGE: This is strictly a riparian tree and is uncommon below 400 m
elevation. Look for the welcome shade of this tree along permanent waterways
(water may be subsurface).
UNARMED.
FLOWERS: Dioecious: male and female flowers appear on separate trees. No
petals. Flowering in spring and sometimes again after summer rains.
FRUIT: Typical winged ash seeds on female trees are up to 3 cm long and
½ cm wide.
LEAVES: Compound leaves are opposite on the stems and margins are
barely serrate. Usually there are 5 or 7 leaflets. The petiole and leaves when new have velvety pubescence.
If you check the leaves of many ash trees along the watered canyons of the Sonoran Desert you may eventually find a caterpillar that resembles a bird dropping. One of several that take this disguise, the caterpillar belongs to the Two-tailed Swallowtail, Papilio multicaudata. The butterflies are a common site in watered canyons where they patrol up and down canyon. A resting caterpillar is shown on the lowest leaf in the illustration at left.
