Common European ash yields an uncommon olive.

Although the name "olive ash" implies a separate, distinct variety of tree, it really is not. Rather, olive ash refers more specifically to the dark heartwood found in some European ash trees.

While most European ashes have a pale cream-colored heartwood, "olive" ash is heartwood which is brown or black and produces a highly decorative figure that is prized for veneers. In fact, some of the best figures can be obtained from the stump-wood and burrs. Al Matulevich of the David R. Webb Co., said that although the heartwood known as olive ash is present in most European ash, the amount of that dark heartwood can vary greatly.

"In trees, the heartwood is considered the dead part of the tree while the sapwood is the living part. For European ash, the darker or olive-colored wood varies from tree to tree," Matulevich said. "We import both olive ash and European ash, getting much of our supplies from France and some from Germany. For our customers, uses are mainly architectural and high-end furniture, and the European ash is ordered more than olive ash because it fits in with the demand for light colored woods."

Matulevich said European ash differs in looks from the domestic ash in that the European variety does not have the glass worm mark that domestic or American ash sometimes has. "Glass worm mark is a squiggly mark sometimes with a dark center. It is not seen in European ash," he said. "European ash is generally lighter in color than American ash."

Matulevich said the lighter colored European ash is more popular in the U.S. veneer market than olive ash, but that may be due to the fact that light colors are in vogue. Some people cut the European ash so that both the light and dark colors of the heartwood zone show, producing a high contrast. Matulevich added that European ash is popular on both sides of the Atlantic. "My source said that after beech, it is the second most asked for wood with his European clients," said Matulevich.

Facts and legends

European ash comes from the species Fraxinus excelsior. Commercial names for European ash vary according to the country of origin such as English, French, Polish, etc. The common ash is one of Europe's largest deciduous trees, averaging 100 feet tall with some trees as tall as 150 feet. In "The International Book of Trees," Hugh Johnson writes that Linnaeus' name for it, "excelsior," refers to its height. It is found in Europe, North Africa and Asia, and is part of a genus of some 60 species from the northern temperate zones. Ash is one of the members of the broad-leafed forests in temperate zones in Europe, Asia and America. It, like oak, beech, birch and maple, grows in mixes or pure stands.

Johnson adds that there are a great many legends passed down about the common ash. "Not even the oak carries quite such significance out of the murk of legendary time as the ash. In which cold land of myth-making was it such a conspicuous tree? Somewhere on the Baltic shores, where the Vikings' ancestors spent the dark evenings scaring themselves with sagas and dreaming up dragons, primeval ash-woods must have held them in awe. To them, the ash was Yggdrasil, 'the greatest and best of all trees with branches that spread over the whole world and even reach above heaven.' At the top, the legend goes, sat an eagle and at the bottom a dragon," writes Johnson.

Other sources explain that Yggdrasil is the sacred ash of Norse mythology with roots anchored in the underworld, "watered by steams of wisdom and destiny. Its trunk is supported by the earth, and its crown touches the apex of the heaven." According to legend, the Norse gods daily crossed the bridge between heaven and earth via a rainbow and held court in the shade of an ash tree.

In addition to a rich heritage of legends, ash has a reputation as an ancient medicine. In the "Encyclopedia of Wood," Luke Hughes writes, "Problems with warts? Rub them with a piece of bacon, cut a slice in the bark of an ash tree and slip in the bacon and your warts will transfer to the tree - or so medieval herb doctors would have had you believe. The warts would reappear on the tree itself as burrs, so went the tales. Similarly, a 'sure cure' for children with rickets was to pass the body of an ailing child three times at sunrise through an ash sapling which had been split longitudinally. The sapling would then be tightly bound, and if it was seen to heal, so the child also would be cured."

Boats and bats

European ash, like its American counterpart, is used widely for sporting goods and for the handles of striking tools. European ash is used for bats, racquets, hockey sticks, polo mallet heads, cricket stumps and cues. Because it is highly rated for steam bending, European ash is often found in boats, canoes, oars and tillers. It is also used to make deck beams and framing.

Relatives of the common ash include Fraxinus ornus from Southern Europe and western Asia, and American white ash, Fraxinus americana, which grows in a range from Nova Scotia to Minnesota and south to Texas and Florida. Other ashes of note include red ash (Fraxinus pennsylvatica) from Canada and the United States, and Oregon ash (Fraxinus oregona). The Manchurian ash (Fraxinus mandshurica) grows in Japan, Manchuria and China and is very similar to the common ash of Europe. The Chinese flowering ash is similar to the flowering ashes of Europe except that its flowers turn purple in the summer after first blooming a yellow color.

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Family Name

Fraxinus excelsior of the Family Oleaceae

Other Names

European ash, English ash, French ash, Polish ash, olive ash

Height/Weight

Average height is 100 feet. Average weight is 44 pounds per cubic foot with a specific gravity of 0.71.

Properties

Common ash is tough, dense and heavy with excellent steam bending qualities. Ash has moderate blunting effect on tools with a medium resistance to cutting edges. European ash works well with hand and machine tools. Experts recommend pre-boring to nail. It takes a stain and finishes very well.