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We used chloroplast polymerase chain reaction‐restriction‐fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP) and chloroplast microsatellites to assess the structure of genetic variation and postglacial history across the entire natural range of the common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.), a broad‐leaved wind‐pollinated and wind‐dispersed European forest tree. A low level of polymorphism was observed, with only 12 haplotypes at four polymorphic microsatellites in 201 populations, and two PCR‐RFLP haplotypes in a subset of 62 populations. The clear geographical pattern displayed by the five most common haplotypes was in agreement with glacial refugia for ash being located in Iberia, Italy, the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula, as had been suggested from fossil pollen data. A low chloroplast DNA mutation rate, a low effective population size in glacial refugia related to ash's life history traits, as well as features of …