SPRING-FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS 69 



June ; and later in the year their place is occupied by the scarlet 

 globular fruits, with a yellow pulp, enclosing from two to four 

 chambers. 



The Black Currant {Ribes nigrum), of the order Grossulariacece, 

 or sometimes included in the Saxifragacece, is sometimes found 

 wild in moist woods, flowering in April or May. It is well known 

 as a garden slirub, and may be easily recognised by the characteristic 

 odour emitted from its stems and leaves when bruised. In some 

 northern woods the Red Currant {R. rubrum) is also found wild. 



The Wayfaring Tree or Mealy Guelder Rose ( Viburnum Lantana — 

 order Caprifoliacece) is moderately common in the woods and 

 hedges of dry districts, especially on calcareous soils. It grows 

 from ten to twenty feet high, and flowers during May and June. 

 Its young shoots are covered with star-like hairs, which give them 

 a characteristic mealy or downy appearance. The leaves are 

 simple, elliptical-cordate, serrate, without stipules, and are downy 

 beneath. The flowers are small, white, perfect, and arranged in 

 terminal cymes. In late summer the tree is rendered conspicuous 

 by its flattened berries, which become scarlet as they ripen and 

 afterwards turn black. A photograph of a twig in fruit is given 

 on p. 338. 



The Ash Tree (Fraxinus excelsior — order Oleacece) is easily 

 recognised at a distance, either in summer or winter, by the graceful 

 curves of the lower branches, which droop, and then bend upward 

 at their extremities ; also, on a closer inspection, by the light ashy 

 colour of the smooth bark of the twigs, and the large, black, tri- 

 angular, terminal buds. The leaves are pinnate, with from nine 

 to seventeen oblong-lanceolate, sessile, serrate leaflets. The flowers 

 appear before the leaves in April and May, in dense clusters. They 

 have no perianth : some consist only of an ovary, some only of tMO 

 dark purple stamens, while others are perfect flowers with both 

 ovary and stamens. Some trees have male blossoms only, and 

 therefore produce no fruit ; others bear dense tufts of pendulous, 

 winged fruits which are ripe in October (p. 336), but often remain 

 on the tree till the following spring. The wing of the fruit is 

 sHghtly twisted, and thus, when the fruit is detached, it falls 

 with a slow, spinning motion that allows it to be carried some 

 distance by the wind, reaching the ground with its seed-end 

 downwards. The seed does not germinate until the second spring. 

 A variety of the Ash occurs with simple leaves. 



Very early in the Spring — February to April — we may often 



