| Biltmore
Ash |
Jess
Riddle |
| Nov
22, 2006 12:54 PST |
Will,
Field guides and experts point to fruits typical of white ash,
leaves
with densely pubescent lower surfaces, and leaf scars only
slightly
notched by lateral buds as diagnostic features of Biltmore ash.
Based on what I've seen in the field: The fruit body is plump
and
essentially round in cross section, and the wing extends no more
than
1/3 of the way down the seed body. The twigs are usually velvety
pubescent when young, and fairly large for ash twigs, probably a
little under 1cm diameter. At most sites, the lateral buds are
small,
rich brown in color, and generally sit on top of the leaf scar,
but
cut an almost right angle notch one to two millimeters into the
leaf
scar; nothing like the deep "u" of white ash higher in
the mountains.
The bark is blocky with many horizontal brakes, but still has a
vaguely interlaced pattern. The ridges are somewhat rounded, so
the
bark doesn't have that crisp, neat ridges and interlaced pattern
that
white and green ash sometimes obtain. I haven't looked at the
leaflets much, but they are generally round and downy on the
underside
when young.
I've seen Biltmore ash at Panther Creek, Station Cove, and
Tamassee
Knob in the Brevard Fault Zone; all Wadakoe Mountain in South
Carolina; in gorges at Savage Gulf and Fall Creek Falls in the
Cumberland Plateau; and they grow on lower Big Creek and Dry
Branch
near the Pigeon River Gorge in North Carolina. Elevations of
these
sites range from 700' at Panther Creek to 2500' at Dry Branch.
Most
sites have exceptionally productive second growth hardwood
forests,
but appear drier than mixed mesophytic forest with hickories
instead
of buckeye and basswood. Lower Big Creek and the Cumberland
Plateau
sites are at the rich end with well developed mixed mesophytic
forests. The distribution of these ashes overlaps with that of
typical white ash on lower Big Creek. I do not know if they both
grow
in any one cove, but they are growing similar habitats in the
area and
are still distinct. That co-occurrence combined with distinct
twig,
bark, and habitat characteristics makes them easily distinct
from both
typical white ash and green ash.
Jess Riddle
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