DENDROLOGY. 



157 



extending through their whole length : this character 'disappears 

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

 The seeds are flat from one extremity to the other, and a little 

 narrowed towards the base. 



The wood of the blue ash possesses the characteristic properties 

 of the genus, and of all the species 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 frame of 

 carriages and for the felloes of wheels, it is generally selected 

 ior the flooring of houses, frequently for the exterior covering, 

 and sometimes for the shingles of the roof; but for the last 

 purpose the tulip tree \s preferred. It is said that a blue color 

 can be extracted from the bark of this tree. 



Black Ash. Fraxinus samhucifolia. 



In the extensive country 

 comprising the northern sec- 

 tion of the United States 

 and the provinces of New 

 Brunswick and Nova Scotia 

 the White Ash and the Black 

 Ash, which is sometimes 

 called Water Ash and Brown 

 Ash, are the most abundant 

 in the forests and the most 

 perfectly known to the in- 

 habitants. The black ash 

 requires a moister soil than 

 the white ash, and longer 

 exposed to inundations. 



The black ash is 60 or 

 70 feet high and about two 

 feet in diameter. It is easily distinguished from the white ash 

 by its bark, which is of a duller hue, less deeply furrowed, and 

 has the layers of the epidermis applied in broad sheets. The 

 buds are of a deep blue, and the young shoots of a bright green 



Fig.]. 



PLATE XXXI. 

 A leaflet. Fig. 2. The seed. 



