Fringetree
Chionanthus virginicus
Click or tap the section titles below to learn more about this species!
CLASSIFICATION: What’s in a name?
Scientific Name: Chionanthus virginicus. The genus, Chionanthus, comes from Greek chion (snow) and anthos (flower)6. The epithet, virginicus, refers to Virginia!
Common Name: Fringetree. This common name refers to the flowers, which hang from the branches like decorative fringe. Another whimsical common name is Old Man’s Beard!
Family: Oleaceae (Olive family). Plants in the olive family are woody, and have opposite branching and leaves, and fruits which can be a fleshy berry or drupe or a dry capsule or winged samara (a dry fruit with a thin papery wing attached for wind dispersal. Maple seeds are a good example of a samara). Familiar members of this family include olives, lilacs, ashes, privets, and forsythias.
IDENTIFICATION: What does it look like?
Average Height: 10-20 feet
Description: A shrub or small tree, usually multi-trunked, with smooth light gray-brown bark, opposite branching and large oval leaves with smooth margins. The flowers are white with 4 long narrow petals, and are borne in large branching clusters which are oriented so the flowers hang downwards from the branches. After fertilization, these become a small drupe, green turning blue-black at maturity in late summer.1
Bloom time: Apr – May
Notes: This species has very fragrant flowers, similar to its relatives, the lilacs. Fringetrees are also dioecious, meaning that male and female flowers are borne on separate plants.
LOCATION: Where is it at home?
Range: Fairly common statewide in Virginia. A Southeastern species, ranging from Florida north to southern Pennsylvania and west to Texas and Oklahoma, skipping over the Mississippi River valley.2,7
Geology/Soil: Found in a wide variety of soil types, from rocky to sandy or clay. Most abundant in nutrient-rich soils, but not restricted to them.
Habitat: Rocky woodlands, barrens, rich cove and slope forests, seepage swamps, oak-hickory forests, and flatwoods.7
CONNECTIONS: What are its relationships to other plants, animals, and humans?
Flora associations: Found with an enormous array of plant species across the many habitats it occurs in. At Meadowcreek South, it grows alongside oaks (Quercus spp.), hickories (Carya spp.), spicebush (Lindera benzoin), American hazelnut (Corylus americana), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), star chickweed (Stellaria pubera), and bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis).
Fauna associations: Fringetree is a larval host plant for the fringetree sallow moth (Sympistis chionanthi), as well as several sphinx moths. The fruit are a valuable food source for many species of birds, as well as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).5 The non-native beetle, emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) will attack fringetrees, though they are apparently much less preferred than their relatives, the ashes (Fraxinus).
Human associations: The bark is used by the Choctaw people to treat cuts, sores, and bruises3. Fringetrees are also planted widely in and outside their native range as an ornamental tree.
We want these plants to thrive and for everyone who gets to visit the park to enjoy them, so remember – don’t pick flowers or other parts of the plant!!
Bibliography & Definitions
1 Weakley, A.S., J.C. Ludwig, and J.F. Townsend. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Bland Crowder, ed. Foundation of the Flora of Virginia Project, Inc., Richmond. Fort Worth: Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press, , pp. 1155-1157.
2 “2013 BONAP North American Plant Atlas. TaxonMaps.” Bonap.net, bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Chionanthus. Accessed 15 May 2024.
3 “BRIT – Native American Ethnobotany Database.” Naeb.brit.org, naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=chionanthus. Accessed 15 May 2024.
4 “Chionanthus Virginicus (Virginia Fringe Tree).” Www.monticello.org, www.monticello.org/sites/library/exhibits/lucymarks/gallery/vafringetree.html. Accessed 15 May 2024.
5 Hilty, John. “American Fringetree (Chionanthus Virginicus).” Www.illinoiswildflowers.info, www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/fringetree.html. Accessed 15 May 2024.
6 Jaikumar, Devika. “Chionanthus Retusus: The Chinese Fringetree.” Arnold Arboretum, 15 Nov. 2005, arboretum.harvard.edu/stories/chionanthus-retusus-the-chinese-fringetree/#:~:text=The%20name%20was%20based%20on. Accessed 15 May 2024.
7 Virginia Botanical Associates. “Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora | Chionanthus Virginicus L.” Www.vaplantatlas.org, www.vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=2622&search=Search. Accessed 15 May 2024.
Definitions:
Drupe: A fleshy fruit with a single hard stonelike seed. Examples include cherries, plums and olives.