The manna ash is a bushy deciduous tree with rounded foliage and dark green pinnate leaves, up to 20 cm long, with 5-9 oval leaflets that turn purple-red in autumn. In late spring and early summer, it produces large panicles of fragrant, creamy-white flowers. Native to south-eastern Europe, it lives from the plain up to 100-1300m altitude. Manna ash wood is used for poles, tool handles and as fuel. Manna is extracted from the manna ash, a solidified sap used in medicine as a mild laxative. Bushy deciduous tree, with rounded crown, with pinnate, dark green leaves, up to 20cm long, with 5-9 oval leaflets, turning purple-red during autumn. In late spring and early summer, it produces large terminal and axillary panicles of fragrant cream-white flowers. The manna ash has a range in south-eastern Europe, where it lives from the plain up to 100-1300m above sea level. It is frequently encountered in the thermophilic woods of hilly and mountain environments. Manna ash produces wood used essentially for poles, tool handles and as fuel. In addition to wood, an important product of ash trees, especially manna ash, is manna; from incisions made in the stem of plants that are between seven and twelve years old, a sap flows which quickly congeals in the air. It is collected and used medicinally as a mild laxative due to its high mannite content.