AN exhibition focused on a disease which could cause a tree species to go extinct is being held in Frome next month.

The showcase, put together by artist Alessandra Alexandroff, will run from November 2 to November 8 in the Gallery at The Station.

Alessandra's solo show, called Ashes to Ashes - An elegy for the tree that held up the world, will focus primarily on ash dieback, a fungal disease of ash trees.

According to Alessandra, ash makes up as much as 90% of the woodlands in the Mendip Hills.

The title of the show is a nod to the Norse myth of the huge ash tree, Yggdrasil, which kept the universe in balance.

Alessandra has shared some other interesting ash folklore facts. She told the Somerset Gazette:  "Reputed to ward off snakes, the traditional shepherd’s crook was made from ash.

"Bunches of ash twigs were often placed in homes to protect the family from witchcraft. 

"A teaspoon of ash sap was given to newborns for strength and it was thought that if a sick child was passed through a split made in an ash tree it would be cured of its illness.

"Decoctions of ash were used to cure gallstones, earache, jaundice, obesity and gangrene.

"In Somerset and Devon the traditional yule log was an ashen faggot, often 12 foot long, made from ash poles bound together. This custom still persists in a few country pubs where one end is lit in the hearth and over at the festive period the rest is gradually pushed into the fire as it burns.

"Ash wood, symbolic of renewal and rebirth, was the wood chosen to bring in the new year."

Attendees can expect to find paintings, prints and installations at the exhibition. One piece of work which will be on show, called Ash Obligate, comprises etchings of 12 moths which are totally reliant on the ash tree.

If the tree species goes extinct, so will they.

Alessandra said: “Why do so many species go unmourned? Just as with humans, mourning a species allows us to maintain an ongoing relationship with it, creating ties that bind us to our environment so that we too are involved in the fate of what is being lost.”

Alessandra will also be reviving an old custom, which involves tucking an ash twig in one's pocket to give protection to the wearer.

Attendees will be able to take a twig home with them.