CHAP, LXXV, 



olea'ce^.. o'rnus. 



124.5 



mucronate. (^Don's j\IilL, iv. p. 57.) A tree, a native of 

 North America, where it grows from 30 ft. to 40 ft. high. It 

 flowers in April and May, and was introduced in 1820. The 

 difference between this sort and O. europae^a is so verj' slight, 

 that we have no doubt of their being only one species. There are 

 plants in the Horticultural Society's Garden, in the arboretum 

 of Messrs. Loddiges, and in the arboretum at Kew. The tree at 

 Kew is grafted on the common ash ; zxidfig. 1071. represents two 

 views of the trunk, to a scale of 1 in. to 12 ft. The point where 

 the scion was inserted in the stock is indicated at g, and the cir- ^\v; 

 cumstance that the former has enlarged nearly as much as the 

 latter, is a proof that O. (e.) americana is a more robust-growing 

 plant than O. europae^a ; but by no means that it is a different 

 species. When no other mode can be obtained of rendering a 

 tree gardenesque, that of giving the trunk an architectural base, 

 by grafting a slow-growing on a fast-growing species, may be re- 

 sorted to with success. Perhaps, also, the application of the 

 art of grafting might be worth adopting for certain ornamental 1071 

 trees to be planted in exposed situations ; for the architectural base is 

 strongly expressive of stability. 



t 4. O. floribu'nda G. Don. The abundant-flowered Flowering Ash. 



Identification. G. Don in Loud. Hort. Brit., p. 12. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. .57. 



Synonyme. i='raxinus floribiinda D. Don Prod. Fl. Nep., p. 106., Wall. Fl. Ind., 1. p. 150., PL 



Rat: Asiat., 3. t. 277. 

 Engravings. Wall. PI. Rar. Asiat., 2. t. 277. ; and our fig. 1072. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves with 2 — 3 pairs of elliptic-oblong, acuminated, ser- 

 rated, glabrous, stalked leaflets, and an odd one, varying much in figure, the 

 terminal, or odd, 

 one the largest, jq 

 Panicles terminal, 

 compound, thyr- 

 soid. Petals linear, 

 clavate (ex JValL); 

 oval, oblong, ob- 

 tuse (ex D, Don). 

 Samara linear, or 

 narrow- spathulate, 

 obtuse, entire. Bark 

 ash-coloured, dot- 

 ted. Branchlets 

 compressed. Flow- 

 ers white. (^Don's 

 Mill., iv, p. 75.) 

 A tree, a native 

 of Nepal, where it 

 grows to the height 

 of 30 ft. or 40 ft. 

 It flowers in April, 

 and was introduced 

 in 1822. There was a plant of this species in the Horticultural Societ3''s 

 Garden, against the conservative wall, which died in the spring of 1836. 

 Notwithstanding the tenderness of this species, we do not see any thing in 

 that circumstance to prevent it from being merely a geographical variety of 

 O'rnus americana or O. europae^a. Though nothing can alter the nature 

 of a plant, yet physical circumstances may to a considerable extent alter its 

 habits, and even its constitution. The comm.on European ash, if cultivated 

 in the Himalayas, would, after many generations, in all probability become 

 as tender as O. floribunda; and, in like manner, O. floribiinda, after being 

 cultivated for several generations in Europe, would in all probability become 

 as hardy as O. europae^a. 



