2TO The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. V, No. 3, 



KEY TO OHIO ASHES IN THE WINTER CONDITION 



E. C. Cotton. 



Fraximis L. Trees with stout twigs and opposite leaf-scars not 

 meeting but sometimes with connecting ridges; terminal bud 

 present; bud scales 1 to 3 pairs, the outer ones usually not spread- 

 ing, rough, pubescent and rather dry; lateral buds evident; leaf- 

 scars semi-circular to shield or heart-shaped : bundle scars numer- 

 ous, contiguous, in a curved line or nearly forming a complete 

 ring; pith cylindrical, solid, rather large and white; twigs gray or 

 greenish- or brownish-gray ; lenticels usualh^ numerous but not 

 large or wart-like; bark of trunk corrugated or flaky , ashy gray 

 or brownish; wood of medium weight, hard, tough and elastic; 

 fruit a samara usually one seeded. 



1. Twigs pubescent not with four ridges or wings; bark of trunk corru- 

 gated; leaf scars usually shield-shaped. 2. 



1. Twigs so:newhat pubescent, with four or more ridges or wings, some- 

 times persisting until the third or fourth year; connecting ridges 

 between leaf-scars usually present; leaf scars usually crescent 

 shaped; buds pubescent, gray or brownish-gray; bark of trunk ashy 

 gray, thin flaky; fruit linear-oblong or cuneate, winged all around, 

 the body extending more than half way to the apex. 



F. quadrangidata Mx., Blue Ash. 



1. Twigs glabrous or nearly so. 3. 



2. Lateral buds large, prominent, projecting, tumid, somewhat spherical, 



usually exposing four bud scales; twigs usually dark-gray; con- 

 necting ridges between leaf-scars usually present ; fruit with linear 

 somewhat broadened wing, two or three times as long as the nar- 

 rowly elliptic, nearly terete body. 



F. Biltniorcana Bead. Biltmore Ash. 



2. Lateral bud small, usually pyramidal or rather truncate, not project- 



ing, usually showing but two bud scales; twigs usually showing but 

 two bud scales; twigs usually light greenish gray; connecting ridges 

 between leaf-scars sometimes present; fruit linear, margined above 

 by the decurrent, linear, spatulate wing, and nearly equaling it. 



F. pciinsylvanica Marsh. Red Ash. 



•3. Buds brownish-black or black; fruit winged all around, body flat. 4. 



3. Buds reddish-brown, bi-ownish-gray or gray; fruit spatulate with wing 



terminal or partly decurrent; bark of trunk corrugated. 5. 



4. Lateral buds usually spherical ; twigs light-gray, stout, stiff and brittle ; 



lenticels prominent and usually numerous; bark of trunk ashy gray, 

 flaky; fruit narrow-oblong. F. nigra Marsh. Black Ash. 



4. Lateral buds more or less four angled, commonly pyramidal; twigs 



greenish-gray, somewhat slender; lenticels not prominent and usu- 

 ally few; fruit oblong, cultivated. F. excelsior L. European Ash. 



5. Ridges connecting leaf-scars usually present ; leaf-scars crescent 



shaped; twigs generally greenish-gray; wing of fruit not decurrent. 



F ainericana L. White Ash. 



5. Ridges connecting leaf-scars usually absent; twigs gray; leaf-scars 

 usually shield shaped; wing of fruit decurrent on the sides of the 

 body to below the middle. F. lanceolata Borck. Green Ash. 



