Fringe Benefits: Why the White Fringetree Steals the Scene

Sara S.
1 day ago
2 min read

White Fringetree

Chionanthus virginicus

Fringetree is a small, deciduous tree that makes a big impact in the landscape. Large, glossy, dark green leaves turn yellow-bronze in fall adding a bit of color to autumn. In late-spring both the male and female trees are adorned with wispy, strap-like, lightly fragrant, creamy white blooms. It won’t take long for your fringe tree to provide ornamental value-– they’re known to bloom at an early age, usually only after 2-3 years of age!

This species is dioecious, meaning each tree is either a male or a female, and both need to be present while blooming to produce fruit. The flowers are pollinated by various bee species. It is difficult to determine whether a specific tree is a male or female at the flowering stage as the flowers exhibit both male and female parts, but are functionally unisexual. Male flowers tend to have larger blooms leading to a showier bloom display--most cultivars tend to be male for this reason. The best way to indicate the sex of a fringe tree at the nursery is by the presence of fruit, which would be on females only.

Fringe tree is in the Oleaceae (Olive) family, along with lilacs, ash, jasmine, forsythia, and olives. The fruits are olive-like drupes that ripen from green to a dark blue fruit. The fruit is eaten by several songbirds and by the pileated woodpecker, wild turkey, and white-tailed deer. The fringe-tree sallow (Sympisis chionanthi) is an owlet moth that uses fringe tree as a larval host plant.

NAME:

Greek chion means “snow” and anthos means “flower”

Other common names include “Grancy Graybeard” (“grancy” being another name for Grandpa), “Old Man’s Beard” or “Granddaddy Graybeard”

NATIVE RANGE:

Southern New Jersey to Florida and west to Texas

FUN FACT:

Native Americans, pioneers, and Appalchian folk herbalists used the bark in various preparations to treat a number of maladies, including skin issues. Modern herbalists continue to use it today.

NOT-SO-FUN FACT:

Fringe tree is in the same family as Ash – and is also at risk from the Emerald Ash borer, though it is not EAB’s first choice. If the fringe tree is healthy and unstressed it can survive the attack.

GROWING CONDITIONS:

SOIL:
Thrives in moist, fertile soil, but can tolerate clay soil and some drought once established.
SUNLIGHT:
Full sun to part shade – best foliage is achieved in part shade, but best flowers are achieved in full sun
HEIGHT/WIDTH:
12-20’ tall and wide – large shrub or small tree. Oval or wide-spreading shape. Commonly found with multiple trunks, but easily trained to single trunk. Average growth is 6-10” per year.
ZONES:
3-9