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09-06-2004, 10:04 PM

From:

I have a large ash tree (in the UK) - it appears to have started to
drop sticky deposits that look just like granular sugar.
.. . .
It's never done this before - does anyone know what causes it, and /or
how long it lasts for???

Many species of Fraxinus, the ash tree, exude a sugary substance which the
ancient Greeks called méli, i.e. honey. This substance was harvested
commercially until the early part of this century, and is found on Fraxinus
excelsior in northern Europe and Fraxinus ornus in the mountains of Greece.

This fact sheds light on certain themes in classical literature - the idea of a
golden age when men ate acorns and honey that dripped from trees, the idea that
bees collect honey from the leaves and branches of trees, and that ash tree
nymphs were nurses of the infant Zeus in the Cretan cave of Dicte. (They fed
him honey). Also, a new etymology of the Greek word for ash tree is proposed in
light of these connections.
http://www.musaios.com/ash.htm