Biltmore Ash Tree
The Biltmore Ash (Fraxinus Biltmoreana, Beadl.) is a small tree quite common about Biltmore, North Carolina. It is closely allied to the white ash, but its leaves and young twigs are densely coated with fine hairs. Very strangely the seedling trees are smooth until four or five years old, after which the young growth is pubescent.Another little ash (Fraxinus velutina, Torr.) grows in the Southwest, extending from Texas to California, climbing to the tops of dry mesas and the walls of canons, or lending itself to husbandry by shading irrigation ditches and village streets.
Its leaflets are narrow and tapering, becoming thick and leathery and occasionally velvety in the hottest, dryest regions. It is distinctly the friend of man in a region where trees are most appreciated. Its wood is good for axe-handles and wagons.