White Ash

White Ash (Fraxinus americana) is not one of the most common trees at the Yale Forests, but it plays an incredibly important role in our ecosystem.  Live ash trees grow their wood with the unique combination of straight grain, durability, and dryness, which makes them an ideal home for many cavity dwelling animals.  These qualities also make the wood easy to prepare into beautiful, straight, strong pieces ideal for furniture and other high-wear interior applications like chair-rails.