54. Fraxinus xanthoxyloides (G. Don) A. De Candolle OLEACEAE

Crab ash, Afghan ash

Photograph of Fraxinus xanthoxyloides in the wild, Sutlej Valley, Himachal Pradesh

This specimen was grown from seed collected in 1984 by RBGE horticulturist and alpine-specialist Ron McBeath in the Miyar Valley, Lahul, in Himachal Pradesh. It occurs from Afghanistan eastwards to Uttarakhand in India. In dry habitats, for example in the Sutlej Valley, it forms a shrub. The specific epithet ‘xanthoxyloides’ refers to the colour of its yellow wood, which, according to the pioneering Indian forest conservator Hugh Cleghorn, made ‘good walking sticks’ and ‘hefts and handles’ for tools.