Fraxinus - ash.

Drops its leaves and keeps its seed.

Isn't it strange how the ash tree (Fraxinus excelsior) drops all its leaves overnight? I've been watching the ones near our house for a few years and they all do it. The oldest (and largest) tree is sometimes the first and sometimes the last of the ashes to drop its leaves.

Pic: Ash tree, all seed and no leaf.
Ashes are usually the last trees to get leaves in spring; they should be the first trees to drop them, too, in autumn, but these trees haven't noticed that they're in Finland and that autumn is earlier here than in more southern climates. So they still have green leaf when the birches (local trees) have turned all yellow, and they drop their (usually still green) leaves when they feel like it.

Does anybody know if ashes turn color where they're from, say, in Germany? I haven't seen them do that up here, ever, but then, I've only lived near ash trees for about 5 years.

Pic: Ash tree, seed cluster.
This year the two biggest trees both had lots and lots of seeds. They've been ripe (... brown) for ages. Both trees dropped their leaves a week or three ago; both still have all their seeds. I wonder what they're waiting for?

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Update: New pic.