Tree · Oleaceae
Green ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Green ash is recorded as native to 41 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,657 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Green ash at a glance
- Native in
- 1,657 counties, across 41 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b PLANTS minimum temperature −47°F
- Mature height
- 80 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 2b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −47°F; zone 2b winters bottom out at −45°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Green ash is recorded as native to 41 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,657 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,657 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 17 counties
- Arkansas 75 counties
- Colorado 9 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 23 counties
- Georgia 38 counties
- Illinois 91 counties
- Indiana 73 counties
- Iowa 16 counties
- Kansas 93 counties
- Kentucky 104 counties
- Louisiana 57 counties
- Maine 14 counties
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Michigan 66 counties
- Minnesota 80 counties
- Mississippi 23 counties
- Missouri 105 counties
- Montana 26 counties
- Nebraska 48 counties
- New Hampshire 6 counties
- New Jersey 16 counties
- New York 40 counties
- North Carolina 43 counties
- North Dakota 42 counties
- Ohio 85 counties
- Oklahoma 35 counties
- Pennsylvania 48 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 24 counties
- South Dakota 36 counties
- Tennessee 61 counties
- Texas 54 counties
- Utah 9 counties
- Vermont 6 counties
- Virginia 65 counties
- West Virginia 32 counties
- Wisconsin 66 counties
- Wyoming 13 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
- 80 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 15 to 71 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.7 to 8.1
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 40 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −47°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Yellow-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
- FRPE
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 pennsylvanica (PLANTS symbol FRPE).
- 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