156 



SYLVA AMERICANA. 



long inundations, are congenial to this ash, which delights in 

 more abundant moisture than the other species. 



Its vegetation is beautiful, but its stature rarely exceeds 30 

 feet, and it fructifies at half this height. In the spring the lower 

 side of the leaves and young shoots are covered with thick down, 

 which disappears at the approach of summer. The leaves 

 commonly consist of two pair of leaflets with a terminal odd one. 

 The leaflets are large, nearly round, petiolated and distinctly 

 toothed. The flowers, as in the other species, are small and not 

 very conspicuous 5 the seeds, unlike those of any other ash with 

 which we are acquainted, are flat, oval and broader than they 

 are long. 



From its inferior dimensions this tree is not much used in the 

 arts ; although it possesses properties of eminent utility. 



Blue Ash. Fraxinus quadrangulata. 



The Blue Ash is unknown 

 to the Atlantic parts of the 

 United States, and is found 

 only in Tennessee, Kentucky 

 and the southern part of Ohio. 

 It requires the richest soil to 

 bring this tree to perfection. 

 The blue ash frequently 

 exceeds 60 or 70 feet in 

 height and 18 or 20 inches 

 in diameter. Its leaves are 

 from 12 to 18 inches lone:, 

 and are composed of two, 

 three or four pair of leaflets 

 with an odd one. The 

 leaflets are large, smooth, 

 oval-acuminate, distinctly 

 toothed and supported by short petioles. The young shoots to 

 which the leaves are attached are distinguished by four opposite 

 membranes, three or four lines broad and of a greenish color. 



plate xxx. 



Fig. 1. A leaflet. Fig. 2. The seed. 



