Fraxinus velutina

Velvet ash, Velvet Ash

Family: Oleaceae · Type: tree · Native

Velvet ash is a California native tree found in southern Sierra Nevada, southern California, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, southern eastern Sierra Nevada, and eastern Mojave Desert in canyon and streambank woodland habitats at elevations of 200 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from March to April, this tree produces inconspicuous green flowers without petals. Growing with a trunk up to 15 meters tall and 3 decimeters in diameter, it has gray, furrowed bark and cylindric gray-brown twigs covered in minute velvety hairs. Its compound leaves are 9 to 20 centimeters long with 5 to 7 lanceolate leaflets, each 3 to 10 centimeters long, ranging from entire to slightly serrated with a distinctive velvety texture. The fruit is a distinctive winged samara 15 to 38 millimeters long with a flat wing extending onto the fruit body.

Habitat: Canyons, streambanks, woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Apr

Elevation: 200-1600 m

Bioregions: s SN, SCo, TR, PR, s SNE, DMoj

California counties: Riverside, Kern, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Inyo, Orange, San Diego, Fresno, Tulare, Imperial, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Contra Costa, San Luis Obispo, Trinity, Sacramento, Mariposa, Solano

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.