THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES. 247 



haps a slight downiness along the ribs. This tree 

 may be easily distinguished from the other ashes by 

 its broad, roundish, slightly toothed leaflets, 

 and the elliptical (not wedge-shaped) seeds. 



The water ash extends from southern 

 Virginia to central Florida ; westward 

 it reaches its limit in the valley of 

 the Sabine River, Tex., and in south- 

 Black Ash. eastern Arkansas. 



Fraxinvs The Wack ^ . g & 



sambucifolia. 



Fraxinus nigra. tall, slender tree 

 which grows from 40 to 70 feet, and 

 occasionally, in the forest, 90 feet 

 high ; it has a dark-gray trunk. Its 

 leaves (twelve to sixteen inches long) are 

 composed of from seven to eleven leaflets 

 which are joined to the main stem without 

 a sign of a stemlet ; they are distinctly 

 but irregularly toothed, and the stem is grooved ; 

 in color they are a deeper green than those of the 

 white ash, and pale below, with rusty hairs scattered 

 over the whitish ribs. In the "White Mountain re- 

 gion they do not appear until the latter part of May, 

 and they turn brownish and drop after the first heavy 

 frost in early October. In fact, I have noticed that 

 the black ash sheds its leaves almost if not quite as 

 soon as the butternut. The winged seed is blunt at 



Carolina 

 Water Ash. 



