Fra 



rums (tiiicnrdiin. 



THE AxMERICAN ASH-TREE. 



Si/noni/iiics. 



Fraxinus amencana, 



Frene d'Aiiierique, Frene blanc, 

 Aincrikaiiisclie Esche, 

 Frassino ainericano, 

 American Ash, 

 "White Ash, Green Ash, 



Wii.i.DENow, Linnaei Species Plantarum. 



3IiciiAi:x, North Atncrican Sylva. 



Loudon, Arborcluiii Bntaiinicuin. 



France. 



Germanv. 



Italy. 



Britain. 



Anglo-America. 



Derirations. This species is called Frfne blanc, or W/iite Ash, from llie superior wliileness of its wood, over every otiiei 

 species of llie geims. 



Enravins;s. Michaux, North Americaa Sylva, pi. 113 ; Loudon, Arborelum Britannicuin, ii., fig. 1055, and vi., pi 209; and 

 the figures below. 



Specific Characters. Leaflets 7, petiolate, oblong, acuminate, shining above, qaite entire, glaucous beneath. 

 Flowers calyculate. Bon, Miller's Diet. 



Descriptio7i. 



Fraxinus ameri- "^^"^-^ 

 lali- V^^^ 



cana, from the 



qiial 



%'' "" r" ^ ^^ 



h'\ J ((^ ties of its wood, the 



fe'^r^S rapidity of its growth, 

 and the beauty of its foUage, is one of the most 

 interesting among American trees. In favour- 

 able situations, it sometimes attains the height' 

 of eighty feet, with a trunk three feet in diam- 

 (Bter, and often is undivided for more than half 

 of its length. The bark is deeply furrowed, with 

 the ridges crossing each other in such a man- 

 ner, as to give the spaces between, the shape 

 of a lozenge, or what is usually called diamond 

 form. When grown in an open field or lawn, 

 the branches diverge from the central stem, in 

 a double curve, like those of a chandelier, di- 

 minishing in length, with great regularity as 

 they proceed upwards. The twigs are thick, 

 and do not taper to a point, but end abruptly, in spring, with a large terminal 

 bud. "^Phe shoots of the first two years' growth are of a bluish-gray colour, and 

 are perfectly smooth. The buds, which are intensely bitter, are large and broad, 

 and are of a pale-brown colour, by which latter circumstance this tree is easily 

 distinguished from the European species. The leaves are from twelve to four- 

 teen inches long, opposite, and composed of three or four pairs of leaflets, sur- 

 mounted by an odd one. They are borne on short petiolules, are three or four 

 inches long, about two inches broad, oval-acuminate, rarely denticulated, of a 

 delicate texture, with an undulated surface. Early in the spring, they are cov- 

 ered with a light down, which gradually disappears,- and at the approach of sum- 

 mer, they are perfectly smooth, of a light-green colour above, and whitish beneath. 

 This difference in the colour of the surfaces of the leaflets is peculiar to this spe- 



