Ash (Includes White Ash, Fraxinus americana); and Green Ash = Red Ash, F. pensylvanica)

These two species are very similar, and they may hybridize. Experts use leaf scars and small differences in leaves and fruits to distinguish them. For convenience, we will lump these two species together. Height to 80 ft, sometimes taller. Leaves 8 - 12 in; with 5 - 9 leaflets; the only large trees in the Park with opposite and compound leaves (binoculars are helpful!). Leaflets may show ellipsoid galls called Ash Bullet Galls, caused by the midge Campylomyza pellax. Buds brown; with clasping scales. Bark split into tight fissures; outer bark of older trees becomes soft and corky (use fingernail). Found throughout the Park.

Red Elderberry (Sambucus pubens)

Height to 13 ft. Leaves 4 - 11 in; with 5 - 7 leaflets; petioles and base of leaflets purplish. Branches with large lenticels (wart-like openings through which gases are exchanged); and extensive pith; pith on younger stems white, but brownish on older stems. Fruits red, in cone-shaped clusters. Similar in form to common elderberry (S. canadensis), but common elderberry produces flat-topped clusters of dark purple fruits, and inhabits more open areas. Common Elderberry was sighted on the State Gamelands (eastern) side of Mt. Springs Lake Road). Red Elderberry is a true woodland species, and found mostly along the Falls Trail, especially just below Waters Meet, and on the Evergreen Trail.

Wild Sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)

Height to 2 ft. Leaves 2 - 7 in; arranged in a whorl of three from a common node near the ground. Flowers in ball-shaped clusters (inflorescences called umbels), three of which are attached at a single node on a stem separate from the stem bearing the leaves. Although this plant is woody at and just below the soil line, it is not a true shrub. It is included here because the petioles are so erect that the plant appears shrub-like. Common along the lower portions of the Falls Trail, the lower portion of the Old Bulldozer Road Trail, and around the picnic area on the north side of Rt. 118.