464 



CIV. OLEACE^. 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 loot 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 tor 

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



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



Lfts. 3 — i 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_o5j- 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 sid^s, 

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

 much smaller than in the other species. May. 



3. F. puBEscENs. Walt. (F. tomentosa. Michx.) Red Ash. 



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

 tomentum beneath, as well as the petioles and brancldets ; Jls. calyculate.— 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. s.\MBUciF0LiA. Lam. Black Ash. Water Ash. 



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

 at the base ; axils of the veins villous beneath ; p. 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 (30 — 70f, 

 with a diameter of 2f. The bark is of a darker hue than that of the white ash 

 and less deeply furrowed. 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 young saplings are in great requisi- 

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



5. F. auADRANGULATA. Michx. Blvc Ash. 



l,f;s. 3 — 4 pairs, sessile, elliptic-lanceolate, serrate, pubescent beneath ; 

 branchlets glabrous, quadrangular-winged, at length subterete ; buds 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 — 4' 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. 



