I40 THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



late, and disappear so soon ! The tree is rarely in leaf 

 before June, and at the first touch of frost, no matter 

 how early, the foliage falls rapidly, so that one may see 

 a tree in full and vigorous leaf, and two or three days 

 hence find it bare, and the pathway thickly strewn with 

 the fallen and blackened foliage. The ash contributes 

 nothing, therefore, to the splendour of colour of the woods 

 in Autumn. 



The flowers open before the leaves, and should be 

 sought for in April or May. They grow in large clusters 

 in pairs on the stems, and are of a rich red purple. They 

 are particularly simple in character, having neither calyx 

 nor corolla, but throwing up a small stigma-tipped column, 

 having at its base a couple of stamens. 



The fruits of the ash are popularly called keys, a name 

 given them from their clustering, pendent character, sugges- 

 tive of a bunch of keys. By some old authors they are 

 called Peter-keys, from the great Apostle, the bearer of the 

 keys, or sometimes Lingua passerina, from their supposed 

 resemblance in form to the tongue of a sparrow. These 

 clusters are abundantly produced, and each cluster consists 

 of many keys ; green at first, but presently turning black, 

 and hanging on long after the leaves have gone. The 

 seeds propagate freely, so that one often sees young seedlings 

 in abundance around the parent tree. To quote a rather 

 quaint phrase that describes the position admirably, " the 

 ash possesses a considerable power of occupancy." The 

 fruit is dry and at its extremity flattens out into a foliaceous 

 wing to assist in its dispersal, the whole arrangement being 

 about an inch and a half long. In the green state the keys 

 are sometimes pickled in vinegar and salt ; they are slightly 



