AMERICAN ASH-TREE. 



397 



spikes, as the annual layers readily separate, by repeated blows, or by frequ 

 bending. In Nova SScotia, New Brunswick, and the northern states of the uni 



lent 

 g. m i'Nova fecoiia, i>ew urunswicu, ana tne nortnern states oi me union, 

 it is preferred to the white ash for hoops; and, as the concentric layers readily 

 yield by mailing, tliey are separated into long strips, often as thin as a wafer, 

 which are much used in the country in tlie manufacture of baskets, corn-riddles, 

 and sometimes for the bottoms of chairs. Tlie wood of this variety is more 

 liable than any other to be disfigured with knobs or wens, which are sometimes 

 of considerable size, and are detached from the body of the tree, and made into 

 trays or bowls. The wood of these excrescences has the advantage of superior 

 solidity, and when carefully polished, exhibits very singular undulations of fibre, 

 and might be profitably employed by cabinet-makers and other manufacturers 

 of fancy work. This sort, like most other kinds of ash, is particularly prolific in 

 potash. 



5. F. A. sAMBUciFOLiA CRisPA. CHsp-leaved Elder-leaved Americaji Ash, having 

 curled leaves. 



6. F. A. QUADRANGULATA. Quadrangular-hranckcd American Ash; Fra.rinKS 

 quadrangulata, of Michaux, Don, Loudon, and others ; Prhie qvadrangubiire, 

 Frene bleu, of the French ; Blue Ash, of the Anglo-Americans. This variety, in 

 favourable situations, often attains a height of 

 sixty or seventy feet, with a diameter of fifteen or 

 twenty inches. The bark of the trunk cracks 

 and separates into thin plates much in the 

 same manner as that of the white oak (Q,uer- 

 cus alba.) The leaves are from twelve to 

 eighteen inches long, and are composed of from 

 two to four pairs of leaflets, terminated by an 

 odd one. The leaflets are almost sessile, ellip- 

 tic-lanceolate, distinctly toothed, smooth on 

 the upper surface, and downy beneath. The 

 branches are quadrangular ; and ihe young 

 shoots to which the leaves are attached, are 

 distinguished by four opposite membranes, 

 nearly one third of an inch broad, that are of 

 a greenish colour, and extend through their 

 entire length. This character disappears in 

 the third or fourth year, leaving only the traces of its existence. The flowers, 

 which put forth in May, are succeeded by samarae that are flat from one extrem- 

 ity to the other, and blunt at both ends, but a little narrowed towards the base. 

 The blue ash is chiefly found in Tennessee, Kentucky, and the southern part of 

 Ohio, where the climate is mild, and the soil fertile in an extreme degree. This 

 fertility seems to serve as a substitute for that degree of moisture, which, in the 

 Atlantic states, appears to bo indispensable to the growth of the ash. The Avood 

 of this tree possesses the characteristic properties of the genus ; and, of all the 

 varieties of the western states, it is the most extensively employed, and the most 

 highly esteemed. Besides the habitual use that is made of it for the frames of 

 carriages, and for tiie felloes of wheels, agricultural implements, 6cc., it is gener- 

 ally selected for the ilooring of houses, and frequently lor their exterior covering; 

 and, where the tulip-tree, (Liriodendron,) does not abound, it sometimes serves 

 for the shingles of their roofs. It is saia that a blue colour may be extracted 

 from the bark of this tree; from wliich circumstance, probably, it derives its com- 

 mon name. It was introduced into Britain in 1823, and is to be met with in 

 many of the European and American collections. 



7. F. A. QUADRANGULATA NERVOSA. Consp'icitniis-vcrvcd-lcni'ed Q.uadraugul(n- 

 branched Aniericaii Ash. 



