Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl
Diagnostic description:
A deciduous tree to 25 m tall. Trunk straight, grey, with finely grooved bark. Twigs smooth with dark brown buds. Leaves imparipinnate, with 5 to 7 leaflets; pinnae 3 to 8 cm long, 1 to 1.5 cm wide; lanceolate to linear-lanceolate; serrated; hairless. Flowers without petals or sepals, in dense lateral clusters. Fruit a samara with oblong lanceolatae wing 2 to 4 cm long.
Distribution:
Local: Not common in Gibraltar. Found mainly along Engineer Road, South District gardens, and Trafalgar Cemetery.
Global: Found throughout most of Europe, north-west Africa, and south-west Asia.
Ecology:
Flowes from December to January.
Habitat:
Grows in thickets, along river banks and flood plains.