Tree · Oleaceae
White ash
Fraxinus americana
White ash is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,297 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
White ash at a glance
- Native in
- 1,297 counties, across 35 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −34°F
- Mature height
- 90 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −34°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
White ash is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,297 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,297 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 12 counties
- Arkansas 74 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 13 counties
- Georgia 24 counties
- Illinois 95 counties
- Indiana 69 counties
- Iowa 4 counties
- Kansas 32 counties
- Kentucky 95 counties
- Louisiana 45 counties
- Maine 15 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 53 counties
- Minnesota 12 counties
- Mississippi 34 counties
- Missouri 107 counties
- Nebraska 8 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 42 counties
- North Carolina 42 counties
- Ohio 88 counties
- Oklahoma 19 counties
- Pennsylvania 66 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 17 counties
- Tennessee 66 counties
- Texas 19 counties
- Vermont 11 counties
- Virginia 92 counties
- West Virginia 51 counties
- Wisconsin 42 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 90 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 28 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.7 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 40 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −34°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Oleaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- FRAM2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Fraxinus americana (PLANTS symbol FRAM2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources