The ash is one of the most famous deciduous trees in Germany. In addition to its important importance for the economy due to the good wood properties, the healing effects of the leaves and seeds and the eye-catching fruits, the flower is rather inconspicuous, but still has many interesting properties. Find out more about the flowering of the ash tree here.
What does the flower of an ash tree look like and when does it bloom?
The flower of the ash tree is small, greenish and either hermaphrodite or unisexual. It appears in lateral panicles during the flowering period from April to May, before the leaves begin to emerge. Pollination occurs through the wind.
Features
- either hermaphrodite or unisexual
- relatively small
- quite a lot of flowers on one inflorescence
- greenish colored
- lateral panicles
Flowering time
The ash tree produces its flowers very early, even before the leaves emerge. The buds are spherical to egg-shaped, black shoot tips with a thickness of 5 mm. The flowering period is usually April and May. From August onwards, small nut fruits develop from the previous flower.
Pollination
An ash tree only becomes manly, i.e. able to reproduce, when it is 20 or even 30 years old. Given the age that an ash tree can reach (up to 300 years), this is not at all surprising. If the conditions are unfavorable, for example little influence of light due to growth in the crop, manhood is delayed to 40 to 45 years. The seeds are spread by the wind.
Beware of pollen count
The blossom of the ash tree is quite inconspicuous with its green color, but the appearance is deceptive. As an allergy sufferer, you probably know only too well when the ash tree starts to bloom. The pollen triggers violent reactions. These are classified as strong. To make matters worse, the ash also blooms at the same time as the birch, so the problems are sometimes even more severe.
