Manna ash

The manna ash, also known as Fraxinus ornus, flowering ash or ornamental ash, is a plant of the ash genus (Fraxinus). The natural habitat of the manna ash is in the eastern Mediterranean region, including southern Europe, and the plant has been naturalized in Germany. The manna ash is known for its sap, which comes from the scratched branches and twigs and contains the alcohol mannitol, among other things. The sap is collected in July/August and processed into mannitol syrup containing fructose and D-mannitol and used as a sugar substitute, e.g. for diabetics.

See also under Manna.

The Manna Ash is a deciduous tree that grows to heights of between 5 and 10, sometimes even 25 m, and has a rather light and rounded crown. The trunk is dark grey or blackish-grey with small warts, while the bark of the branches is olive to grey-green.
The leaves are about 15 to 20 cm long and oval in shape. Their upper side is medium green, while the underside is paler and brownish or whitish hairy.

The flowering period of the manna ash is from April to June. Its fragrant whitish flowers appear simultaneously with the leaves. The tree's solitary nut is very narrow, about 2 cm long and shiny dark brown when ripe in October.

Fraxinus ornus is the parent plant of the drug manna.

1. https://www.wunderkraeuter.de/kraeutergarten/m_pflanzen_und_kraeuter/manna-esche/#jmp_6
2. https://www.bvl.bund.de/SharedDocs/Berichte/08_Stoffliste_Bund_Bundeslaender/stofflisten_pflanzen_pflanzenteileVorwort_2_Aufl.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=5
3. https://www.lwf.bayern.de/mam/cms04/wissenstransfer/dateien/w34_esche_in_der_volkheilkunde_und_pharmazie.pdf