ee 
464 CIV. OLEACEZ. - Fraxinus. 
tions. The trunk arises often more than 40f without a brange 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 for 
carriage frames, agricultural implements, pins, handspikes, bars, &c. May. 
2. F. sueuanpirouia. Lam. (F. viridis. Micha.) 
Lfts. 3—4 pairs, petiolulate, ovate, serrate, opaque, green above and with 
the branchlets, glabrous and glaucous beneath, pubescent in the axils of 
the veins; fls. calyculate ; samara cuneate-lanceolate, obtuse—A small tree, 
15—25f high, in wet woods from the banks of the Ohio to Car., not eommon. 
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. pcpescens. Walt. (F. tomentosa. Michz.) Red Ash. 
Lfts. petiolate, ellipticai-ovate, acuminate, serrate, covered with a dense 
tomentum beneath, as well as the petioles and branchlets; fils. 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, witha 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. sampucirouia. Lam. Black Ash.. Water Ash. 
Lfis. sessile, ovate-lanceolate, serrate, rugose and shining, round-oblique 
at the base; azils of the veins villous beneath; fls. 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 60—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 for hoops, and the mature trunks for baskets. May. 
5. F. quaDRancuLata. Michx. Blue Ash. : 
Lfts. 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. 
