Velvet Ash (Fraxinus velutina)

Photographic Location: I found this tree about a quarter of a mile out on a trail that headed northwest from the parking area at Red Spring in the Calico Basin of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (RRCNCA).

Description: The Velvet Ash (Fraxinus velutina), also known as the Arizona Ash or Modesto Ash, is a perennial tree native to southwestern North America from southern California east to Texas. This small deciduous tree can grow up to 32-40 feet with a trunk up to 4 inches in diameter. Its bark is rough gray-brown and fissured, and the shoots are velvety-downy. Its leaves, 4-6 inches long,  long, pinnately compound with five or seven (occasionally three) leaflets 1-1/2 inches or more long, with an entire or finely serrated margin. The flowers are produced in small clusters in early spring; it is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate trees. They are commonly recognized by their distinctive seeds, commonly known as samaras, which are shaped like canoe paddles. The samara are 1/2 to 1 inch long, with an apical wing about 3/8 inch broad. These trees are common in large, sandy washes with underground water and along streams in rocky canyons. These riparian trees only grow in locations where they can get a regular supply of moisture. Its most active growth period is in the spring and summer, with its greatest bloom in the late spring, with fruit and seed production starting in the summer and continuing until fall. Leaves are not retained year to year.