464 CIV. OLEACEiE. Fraxinus. 



tions. The trunk arises often more than 40f without a branch and then expands 

 into a regular summit of an equal additional height. The leaves are a foot or 

 more in length, opposite, pinnate, consisting of about 7 leaflets. Flowers in 

 loose panicles, the fertile ones with a calyx and the barren ones without. The 

 wood is light, firm, elastic and durable, furnishing a most excellent timber lor 

 carriage frames, agricultural implements, pins, handspikes, bars, &c. May, 



2. F. JUGLANDIFOLIA. Lam. (F. viridis. Michx.) 



Lifts. 3 — 4 pairs, petiolulate, ovate, serrate, opaque, green above and with 

 the branchlets, glabrous and glaucous beneath, pubescent in the axils of 

 the veins ; jls. calyculate ; samara cuneate-lanceolate, obtuse. — A small tree, 

 15 — 25f high, in wet woods from the banks of the Ohio to Car., not common. 

 Leaves 10 — 15' long, consisting of 7 — 15 leaflets which are green both sides, 

 with a glaucous hue beneath, margin denticulate. Flowers greenish. Fruit 

 much smaller than in the other species. May, 



3. F. PL-BFSCENS. Walt. (F. tomentosa. Michx.) Red Ash. 



Lfls. petiolate, elliptical-ovate, acuminate, serrate, covered with a dense 

 tomenthm beneath, as well as the petioles and branchlets ; fls. cal^xulate. — The 

 red ash is abundant in Penn. and the southern parts of N. England, resembling 

 the last species, so as often to be confounded with it. It arises 60f, with a straight 

 trunk covered with bark of a deep brown color. Leaves of about 7 leaflets, 

 which become reddish underneath. The wood is similar to that of the white 

 ash, and is valuable for about the same diversified uses. May. 



4. F. SAiviBuciFOLL*. Laui. Black Ash. Water Ash. 



Lfls. sessile, ovate-lanceolate, serrate, rugose and shining, round-oblique 

 at the base ; axils of the veins villous beneath ; Jis. naked. — This species is com- 

 mon in the northern U. S. and the British Provinces, where it is almost uni- 

 versally known as black ash. It prefers moist woods and even swamps, which 

 it sometimes almost exclusively occupies. It grows to the height of GO — 70f, 

 Avith a diameter of 2f. The bark is of a darker hue than that of the white a.sh 

 and less deeply farro\ved. Buds of a deep blue, not yellow as in the former. 

 Leaves 9 — 16' in length, of about 7 sessile leaflets, which are smooth above and 

 red-downy on the veins beneath. The wood is purplish, very tough and elastic, 

 but less durable than the white ash. The yoimg saplings are in great requisi- 

 tion for hoops, and the mature trunks for baskets. May, 



5. F. QUADRAXGULATA, Michx. Bluc Ash. 



Lfls. 3 — 4 pairs, sessile, elliptic-lanceolate, serrate, pubescent beneath ; 

 hrathchlcts glabrous, quadrangular-winged, at length subterete ; hxids velvety ; 

 samara oblong, obtuse at each end, apex slightly emarginate. — A tall tree, in 

 rich woods, Ohio to Tenn., E. to the Alleghanies; Trunk often 60— 80f high, 16 

 — 20' diam, at base. Leaves 12 — 18' long, consisting of 7 — 11 leaflets. Leaflets 

 vary from oval to lanceolate, distinctly serrate, 3 — V long. The branchlets are 

 furnished with 4 membranous margins 2 or 3" wide, which disappear when 

 the twig is older. Samara slightly narrowed towards the base. Sterile pani- 

 cles compound, much shorter than the leaves. May. — The wood possesses the 

 same strength and elasticity that characterize the other species. 



