Claret Ash 5823152 171342901 2007-11-14T02:00:16Z MPF 38759 copyedit The '''Claret Ash''' or '''Raywood Ash''' is a [[cultivar]] of [[Fraxinus|ash]] tree, a seedling variant of the [[Fraxinus angustifolia|Caucasian Ash]] (''Fraxinus angustifolia'' subsp. ''oxycarpa''). The original seedling was discovered near a group of assorted ash trees in Sewell's nursery in the [[Mount Lofty Ranges]] in [[South Australia]] about 1910, and later grown at the nearby property ''Raywood''. The tree was introduced to [[Great Britain|Britain]] in 1928 and to [[North America]] in 1956, although it did not become widely available there until 1979. The tree grows to around 15-20 metres and has dark green leaves that turn to a dark claret red in the autumn. The bark of the tree is notably smoother than the Caucasian Ash, which is quite apparent on those trees [[grafting|grafted]] on Caucasian Ash stock. In [[Australia]] and the [[United States]] a decline or dieback in some older trees has been observed which has been attributed to a combination of environmental stress and the presence of the fungus [[Botryosphaeria]]. ==References== * Rowell, Raymond J. (1980). ''Ornamental Flowering Trees'' in Australia, AH & AW Reed Pty Ltd ISBN 0-589-50178-X ==External links== * [http://oregonstate.edu/dept/ldplants/froxr.htm ''Fraxinus oxycarpa'' 'Raywood' Oregon State Univ., Landscape Plants] * [http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/freeform/slosson/documents/2003-20046348.pdf Investigation into the etiology of decline of Raywood ash in Northern California] [[Category:Oleaceae|Ash, Claret]]