DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 165 



The White ash. {Fraxinus Americana) This species, 

 according to Michaux, is common to the colder parts of the 

 Union, and is most abundant north of the Hudson. It 

 owes its name to the Hght color of the bark, which on large 

 stocks is deeply furrowed, and divided into squares of one 

 to three inches in diameter. The trunk is perfectly straight, 

 and in close woods is often undivided to the height of more 

 than 40 feet. The leaves are composed of three or four 

 pairs of leaflets, terminated by an odd one ; the whole 

 twelve or fourteen inches long. Early in spring they are 

 covered with a light down which disappears as summer 

 advances, when they become quite smooth, of a Hght green 

 color above and whitish beneath. The foliage, as well as 

 the timber of our White ash, is finer than that of the com- 

 mon European ash, and the tree is much prized in France 

 and Germany. 



The Black ash {F. samhucifolia), sometimes called the 

 Water ash, requires a moist soil to thrive well, and is seen 

 in the greatest perfection on the borders of swamps. Its 

 buds are of a deep blue ; the young shoots of a bright green, 

 sprinkled with dots of the same color, which disappear as 

 the season advances. It may readily be distinguished from 

 the White ash by its bark, which is of a duller hue and less 

 deeply furrowed. The Black ash is altogether a tree of 

 less stature than the preceding. 



The other native sorts are the Red ash {F. tomentosa), 

 with the bark of a deep brown tint, found in Pennsylvania : 

 the Green ash (F. viridis), which also grows in Pennsyl- 

 vania, and is remarkable for the brilliant green of both sides 

 of the leaves : the Blue ash (F. Quadrangulata) , a beauti- 

 ful tree of Kentucky, 70 feet high, distinguished by the four 

 opposite membranes of a greenish color, found on the young 



