[3] It is commonly planted as a street tree in Mexico and the southwestern United States.

It has also been planted and spread from cultivation in Hawaii, where it is now considered an invasive species.

[3] Like other species in the section Melioides, Fraxinus uhdei is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals.

[4] The tropical ash was originally described as a variety of Fraxinus americana (white ash) by Theodor Wenzig [es] in 1883[5] and was separated as a different species in 1907 by Alexander von Lingelsheim.

[6] The specific epithet uhdei refers to Carl Uhde, a German plant collector who explored Mexico in the 1840s.