XV. 2. THE BLACK ASH. 339 



branches. The leaves, which come out late and fall early, are 

 of a yellowish green, twelve or fourteen inches long, opposite, 

 compound, with two to five pairs of leaflets, usually four pairs, 

 and an odd one, on a leafstalk, which is large at the base, some- 

 what flattened below the leaflets, and flattened or channelled 

 above with a sharp-edged channel. The lateral leaflets are 

 sessile, narrow, ovate-lance-shaped or oblong, rounded at base, 

 gradually tapering to a long point, serrate, smooth but impressed 

 at the veins above, paler and hairy along the lower part of the 

 mid-rib beneath. The terminal one is regularly lance-shaped, 

 on a short footstalk. The buds are short and round, terminat- 

 • ing in a point, and of a deep blue or black color. 



The flower branches are opposite, single or in threes, in the 

 axils of the last year's leaves. They are from three to six 

 inches long, dividing irregularly, and not much branched. The 

 flowers differ from those of the other ashes in the absence of a 

 calyx. The keys are a little more than an inch long, elliptic, 

 obtuse or slightly notched at the end, which is sometimes sur- 

 mounted by the style, compressed and winged throughout. 

 They are mature in September or October. In autumn, the 

 leaves become russet. 



The wood of the black ash is remarkable for its toughness. 

 On this account, it was preferred to every other, by the Indians, 

 for the manufacture of baskets, and is still used for that pur- 

 pose in preference to every kind of wood, except that of the 

 trunk of a young white oak. When it is to be divided, it is 

 beaten with mallets until the fibres are somewhat loosened, and 

 it may be then separated into thin, uniform ribbons of any re- 

 quired dimensions. It is also somewhat used and was formerly 

 much more so, for chair-bottoms and grain-riddles, and for 

 hoops. Its sap, procured by exposing a green branch to the 

 fire, is a popular application for ear-ache. 



Of the other ashes that would flourish in our climate, the 

 most valuable, doubtless, is the common European Ash, F. ex- 

 celsior. This has been introduced and found to grow as readily 

 and as vigorously as any of the native species. It is considered, 

 in England, as among the noblest and most beautiful of the 

 forest trees, and next to the oak in the value of its timber. In 



