What is "fraxinus excelsior"

Fraxinus \Frax"i*nus\, prop. n. [L., the ash tree.] (Bot.) A genus of deciduous forest trees, found in the north temperate zone, and including the true ash trees.

Note: Fraxinus excelsior is the European ash; Fraxinus Americana, the white ash; Fraxinus sambucifolia, the black ash or water ash.

Ash \Ash\ ([a^]sh), n. [OE. asch, esh, AS. [ae]sc; akin to OHG. asc, Sw. & Dan. ask, Icel. askr, D. esch, G. esche.]

1. (Bot.) A genus of trees of the Olive family, having opposite pinnate leaves, many of the species furnishing valuable timber, as the European ash ( Fraxinus excelsior) and the white ash ( Fraxinus Americana).

   Prickly ash ( Zanthoxylum Americanum) and Poison ash ( Rhus venenata) are shrubs of different families, somewhat resembling the true ashes in their foliage.

   Mountain ash. See Roman tree, and under Mountain.

2. The tough, elastic wood of the ash tree.

   Note: Ash is used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound term; as, ash bud, ash wood, ash tree, etc.

Fraxinus excelsior — known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash — is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Alborz mountains. The northernmost location is in the Trondheimsfjord region of Norway. The species is widely cultivated and reportedly naturalised in New Zealand and in scattered locales in the United States and Canada.