04/05/2026
https://goldenboughtreefarm.ca/collections/ontario-natives/products/wafer-ash
Sometimes when your looking at the leaves of a tree you find something unexpected. The caterpillar of the Giant Swallow Tail is a sight to see, these strange looking creatures camouflage as bird p**p. They are dependant on the leaves of the orange family members to lay their eggs and feed their young. Prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum) and Wafer Ash (Ptelea trifoliate) being the only trees in this part of North America that fit that niche, I recommend the later.
Wafer Ash is a cheerful part of our backyard ecology, it hugs the edge of the forest and holds its wafers (named after the Catholic host) all winter and into the spring. Long before being named after the Catholic Wafer, this tree was considered sacred by Indigenous people for its medicinal uses. It is a relic from another ecological times, when northern species of orange adapted to a colder climate during the ice age becoming the unusual tree we have today.
When we stratify the seed they require a month of warm and then two months of cold, I never cease to be in awe of the tiny roots emerging that become bushes and trees that shade and feed me.
I once heard a story from a well known plant lover about taking an epic journey, involving a helicopter in the Appalachian Mountains to track down the seeds of this tree. She could have just come to Marlbank.
