Ash is found throughout Europe, which is where this genus and species grow.  Like Maple and Birch, Ash is mainly comprised of sapwood, which is the pale yellowish white we’ve come to know.  The heartwood in these logs is general darker in color, more brown to dark brown.  Logs can be flat sliced or quartered, and when flat sliced, the brown heart is generally clipped out to yield more sapwood in the bundles.

Some logs develop figure, from a mild cross fire to a heavy fiddleback, which we generally see in the quarter grain.  In flat sliced veneer, when the figure goes across the heart, the price of the veneer just went up!