{{Short description|Species of ash tree}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Speciesbox | name = Manna ash<br />South European flowering ash | image = Fraxinus ornus JPG2.jpg | image_caption = Foliage and flowers | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 January 2023">{{cite iucn |last1=Rivers |first1=M.C. |last2=Harvey-Brown |first2=Y. |last3=Barstow |first3=M. |year=2017 |title=''Fraxinus ornus'' |volume=2017 |article-number=e.T61918784A112585867 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T61918784A112585867.en |access-date=20 July 2024 }}</ref> | genus = Fraxinus | parent = Fraxinus sect. Ornus | species = ornus | authority = L. | range_map = Fraxinus ornus range.svg | range_map_caption = Distribution map }}
'''''Fraxinus ornus''''', the '''manna ash'''<ref name=BSBI07>{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=17 October 2014 }}</ref> or '''South European flowering ash''', is a species of ''Fraxinus'' native to Southern Europe and Southwestern Asia, from Spain and Italy north to Austria and the Czech Republic, and east through the Balkans, Turkey, and western Syria to Lebanon and Armenia.<ref name=rushforth>Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins {{ISBN|0-00-220013-9}}.</ref><ref name=fe>Flora Europaea: [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Fraxinus&SPECIES_XREF=ornus&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= ''Fraxinus ornus''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216112545/http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Fraxinus&SPECIES_XREF=ornus&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= |date=16 February 2012 }}</ref><ref name=mc>Med-Checklist: [http://ww2.bgbm.org/mcl/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=15526&PTRefFK=1276 ''Fraxinus ornus''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512172003/http://ww2.bgbm.org/mcl/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=15526&PTRefFK=1276 |date=12 May 2016 }}</ref>
==Description==
''Fraxinus ornus'' is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to {{cvt|15–25|m|sigfig=2}} tall with a trunk up to 1 m diameter. The bark is dark grey, remaining smooth even on old trees.
The buds are pale pinkish-brown to grey-brown, with a dense covering of short grey hairs.
The leaves are in opposite pairs, pinnate, {{cvt|20–30|cm|sigfig=2}} long, with 5 to 9 leaflets; the leaflets are broad ovoid, {{cvt|5–10|cm|sigfig=1}} long and {{cvt|2–4|cm|sigfig=1}} broad, with a finely serrated and wavy margin, and short but distinct petiolules {{cvt|5–15|mm|sigfig=2}} long; the autumn colour is variable, yellow to purplish.
The flowers are produced in dense panicles {{cvt|10–20|cm|sigfig=2}} long after the new leaves appear in late spring, each flower with four slender creamy white petals {{cvt|5–6|mm|sigfig=2}} long; they are pollinated by insects.
The fruit is a slender samara {{cvt|1.5-2.5|cm|sigfig=2}} long, the seed {{cvt|2|mm|sigfig=1}} broad and the wing {{cvt|4–5|mm|sigfig=1}} broad, green ripening brown.<ref name=rushforth>Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins {{ISBN|0-00-220013-9}}.</ref><ref name=afm>Mitchell, A. F. (1974). ''A Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe''. Collins {{ISBN|0-00-212035-6 }}</ref><ref name=afm1>Mitchell, A. F. (1982). ''The Trees of Britain and Northern Europe''. Collins {{ISBN|0-00-219037-0 }}</ref>
<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180> Fraxinus ornus (subsp. ornus) sl9.jpg|Leaf Fraxinus ornus (subsp. ornus) sl20.jpg|Twig with buds Мъждрян – съцветия 2.jpg|Inflorescence Fraxinus ornus - Crni jasen (1)665.jpg|Fruits Fraxinus ornus - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-062.jpg|Botanical drawing by Franz Köhler, 1897 </gallery>
==Cultivation and uses==
''Fraxinus ornus'' is frequently grown as an ornamental tree in Europe north of its native range for its decorative flowers—the species is also sometimes called "flowering ash". Some cultivated specimens are grafted on rootstocks of ''Fraxinus excelsior'', with an often very conspicuous change in the bark at the graft line to the fissured bark of the rootstock species.<ref name=afm/>
A sugary extract from the sap may be obtained from the bark of the tree;<ref name=rushforth/> which was compared to biblical manna in late medieval times (attested circa 1400 AD<ref name=oed>''Oxford English Dictionary''</ref>), giving rise to the name of the tree in English, Spanish ({{Lang|es|fresno del maná}}), and Italian ({{Lang|it|frassino da manna}}). Likewise, the sugar alcohol mannitol derives its name from the extract.<ref name="BBC manna 2025">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250328-the-return-of-sicilys-ancient-white-gold |title=Traverso V. The return of Sicily's ancient 'white gold' |work=BBC News |date=30 March 2025 }}</ref><!--sugar mannose-->
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikisource1911Enc|Manna|manna, a product of the manna ash}} * [https://www.oleaceae.info/fraxinus/manna.html Production of manna in Sicily] * [http://www.euforgen.org/species/fraxinus-ornus/ ''Fraxinus ornus''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923200514/http://www.euforgen.org/species/fraxinus-ornus/ |date=23 September 2018 }} - information, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) {{Commonscat|Fraxinus ornus|position=left}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q161421}}
ornus Category:Flora of Southeastern Europe Category:Flora of Western Asia Category:Flora of Ukraine Category:Flora of Spain Category:Flora of Sardinia Category:Flora of Portugal Category:Flora of France Category:Flora of Corsica Category:Flora of Switzerland Category:Flora of the Czech Republic Category:Flora of Hungary Category:Flora of Armenia Category:Flora of Azerbaijan Category:Flora of Georgia (country) Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Garden plants of Asia Category:Garden plants of Europe Category:Ornamental trees Category:Trees of mild maritime climate Category:Trees of Mediterranean climate