1232 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



in the form of their flowers and fruit, we have had no opportunity of judging ; 

 having only heard of one American ash which has ripened seed in England, and 

 never having seen the flowers of any of the sorts. Supposing all the alleged 

 species of American ash to be but varieties, they will not be more numerous 

 than the varieties which are, or might be, distinguished, of the common 

 European ash ; and not half so many as there are of Quercus Cerris, Q. /Mex, 

 and other species of oak, of which nobody takes any notice, because they 

 cannot be readily propagated by grafting. 



Sorts of American Ash, of which Seeds may be procured from the London Seeds- 

 men, more particularly Mr. Charlwood, 



F. americdna Wiiid., F. acuminata Charlwood' s Cat., ed. 1 835. No. 9., and 

 fig. 1053. 



F. (a.) jmhescens Walt., F. pub^scens and F. tomentosa Charlwood! s Cat., 

 ed. 1835. No. 10., and/^'. 1055. in p. 1234. 



F. (fl.) f^amhucifolia Vahl. No. 1 1., and /fjg. 1057. in p. 1235. 



F. (a.)]nglaiidifo/ia Lam. No. 13., andfig. 1062. in p. 1237. 



F. (a.) carolinidna Lam. No. 1+., in. p. 1237. 



F. (a.) epiptera Michx. No. 15., in p. 1237. 



t 9. F. AMERICANA JVilld. The American Ash. 



Identification. Willd. Sp., 4. p. 1102. ; Michx. N. Amer. .Syl., .3. p. 5<). ; Lodil. Cat., cd. 1836. 

 Synonymes. F. acuminata Lam. Diet., 2. p. 542., Don's MM., 4. p. 56., Purs/i Ft. Amer. Sept., 2. 



p 9. ; F. discolor Mii/il. ; white Ash, green Ash, Amer. 

 Engravings. Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. t. 118. ; ourjig.\055. ; and the plate of this species in our last 



Volume. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Leaflets 7, petiolate, oblong, acuminate, shining above, quite 

 entire, glaucous beneath. Flowers calyculate. (Dons Mill., adapted.) A 

 tree, a native of North America, from Canada to Carolina, in woods. In- 

 troduced in 1723, and flowering in May. 



Variety. 



1 F. rt. 2 latifolia has broader leaves than the species. The plant of this 



variety in the Horticultural Society's Garden was, in 1835, after 



being 10 years planted, 11 ft. high. 

 Description, Geography, Sj-c. In 

 Michaux's North American Sylva, F. 

 americana is said to be one of the 

 most interesting among the American 

 kinds of ash for the qualities of its 

 wood; and the most remarkable for 

 the rapidity of its growth, and for the 

 beauty of its foliage. It rises with a 

 straight clean trunk, often undivided 

 to the height of more than 40 ft. The 

 leaves are 12 in. or 14in. long; the 

 leaflets 3 in. or 4 in. long; and they 

 are borne on short petiolules. Early 

 in spring, the leaflets are covered with 

 a light down, which gradually disap- 

 pears, till, at the approach of summer, 

 they are perfectly smooth, of a light 

 green colour above, and whitish be- 

 neath. This difference in the colour 

 of tlse surfaces of the leaflets is pecu- 

 liar to this species ; and hence it has 

 been named F. discolor. It is called sj 

 the white ash from the colour of its 

 bark, by which it is easily distinguished, 

 in America, from the other sorts indi- 

 genous there. In Britain, all sorts of American ash are readily known 

 from Fraxinus excelsior, by their lighter bark, and by the paler green of 



