General: Velvet Ash (Fraxinus velutina) is a tall, round-topped tree of wet areas. The leaves are compound (each leaf is divided into 5 or 7(11) elongate leaflets). Seeds are produced in bunches that hang from small branchlet; each seed has a wing that catches in the wind. Ripe fruits long (15-38 mm) and narrow (4-5 mm). The bark is gray with many, shallow furrows. Plants male or female.

Velvet Ash (Fraxinus velutina) are found along washes, rivers, and other wet areas in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zone.

Around Las Vegas, the best place to find Velvet Ash is along the Calico Basin Boardwalk Trail in Red Rock Canyon NCA.

Family: Olive (Oleaceae).

Other Names:

Plant Form: Upright, branching tree.

Height: Tree, 15-30 ft (to 50 ft).

Trunk: Gray with many, shallow furrows in the bark. Fresh twigs cylindrical (round in cross section; terete).

Leaves: Leaves compound with a terminal leaflet and 2 or 3 pairs of lateral leaflets. Leaflets generally lanceolate to lance-ovate, but not oval. Leaflets with serrate edges. Lateral leaflets usually stalked (as if each leaflet has a petiole). On young leaves, the under surface may be velvety.

Flowers: Not showy, no petals. Male and female flowers on separate trees.

Seeds: Seeds are produced in bunches that hang from small branchlets; each seed has a wing (samara) that catches in the wind and aids in dispersal. Seed 12–14 mm long. Sumara long and narrow (15–38 mm long by 4-5 mm wide); Entire fruit long relative to the seed.

Distribution: California to SW Utah and Texas, and south into northern Mexico.

Habitat: Washes, river corridors, springs.

Elevation: About 1,000 to 5,000 feet.

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