FIIAXIKUS. 



FllAXIXUS. 



anthers ; the style single, did in* Us striated lengthwise, terminated 

 by a blunt papillose stigma ; the capsule itipiUte, composed of 6 

 carpels, which are connected on the inside, compressed, 2-seeded. 



D. frajcnuUa, Bastard or Palm Dittany, False White Dittany, 

 Fraxinella, has 4-5 pain of leaflets, cordate at the base, acute at the 

 apex, finely serrulated; the racemes long; the calyx unequal. It is 

 found wild in the south of Europe, especially in Germany, France, 

 Spain, Austria, and Italy. 



The leave*, flowers, and stem of this plant, when gently nibbed, emit 

 a strong lemon odour, and when bruised the scent is more powerful 

 The volatile oil which gives it its peculiar odour is secreted iu the 

 largest quantities in the pedicles of the flowers, which are covered 

 with little glands of a rusty red colour, which exude a viscid resinous 

 juice. The volatile oil from this plant is evolved in go large quantities 

 that it will bum when a light is held near it, and, in a dark place, 

 may be seen to take fire. It was formerly used iu medicine under the 

 name of Dictaiumu albiu, and the root was considered stomachic, 

 nnthelmintir, and aperient Stoerek, to whom we are indebted for 

 the re-introduction of so many European plants into modern medicine, 

 recommended it in epilepsy, intermittent fever, and ameuorrhcea. 

 The plant used iu medicine under the name of Dictamniu Creticui, 

 the Dittany of Crete, is the Origanum Dictammu of Linuxus. [Um- 



ounnt] 



/>. anyiu'ifolia, has 4-5 pairs of leaflet*, alternate, ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminated, finely serrulated ; the racemes long ; the calyx nearly equal. 

 It is a native of the Altai Mountains. 



There are several varieties of Fraxinella found iu gardens, with 

 white, red, and purple flowers. They will grow in any common 

 garden soil, from seeds, which ripen well in this country. 



(Don, DicUamydemu Plantt ; Burnett, Outline* of Botany ; Lewis, 

 Hitlury ofMateria Medica.) 



KK A 'XI XL'S, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Oleacea, under which the Common Ash is comprehended. They 

 inhabit various parts of the more temperate regions of the northern 

 hemisphere, both in the Old and New World, but are unknown in a 

 wild state in the southern. Although, if strictly limited, the species 

 are destitute of corolla, yet the genus does, in fact, belong to the 

 natural order of the olive and lilac, a transition to which is afforded 

 by what are commonly called Flowering Ashes, the Orni of modern 

 botanists, in which a corolla exists in the form of four long narrow 

 petals. Both these genera have the kind of fruit called a key, or 

 technically, a 'samara,' that is, a seed-vessel which does not open, 

 which contains one or two cells, and which is prolonged into a thin 

 wing at the apex. As they are all called ashes in the gardens, and 

 are exceedingly nearly related to each other, we notice them both iu 

 this place. 



Fraxiiuu, or True Ashes. 



Of these the most important is the Common Ash (P. excelsior), a 

 tree inhabiting the cooler parts of Europe, from Great Britain to a 

 considerable distance through Asia. It is said to exist in Japan in 

 a wild state, but this requires confirmation ; it docs not occur in 

 North America, but species similar to it in appearance are common 

 on that continent. The ash is one of the most useful of our British 

 trees, on account of the excellence of its hard tough wood, and the 

 rapidity of its growth. In its appearance too it is singularly graceful 

 for a European tree, often resembling in its slender stems and thin 

 airy foliage the acacias of tropical regions. Every one who has seen 

 the beautiful effect of the ashes mingled with the ruins of Netley 

 Abbey, near Southampton, must have been struck with this peculiarity. 

 The principal objection to the ash is the injury it does to the plants 

 which grow in its neighbourhood, by rapidly exhausting the soil of 

 all iU organisable materials. In consequence of this, few plants will 

 thrive, or even grow near it; and hence the impropriety of the 

 common practice of planting the ash in hedgerows ; the extent of its 

 roots may always be distinctly traced by the langour and paleness of 

 the crops that stand near it Many varieties, or supposed varieties 

 of it, are known to cultivator', and many more might easily be col- 

 lected if it were worth the while ; for it sports very much in a wild 

 state. The most .striking of the reputed varieties are the following : 



1. P.ptndula, the Weeping Ash; with all the characters of the 

 common wild tree, except that the branches grow downwards instead 

 of upwards, so that if grafted upon a lofty stem the head will toon 

 reach the ground and form a natural arbour. This if said to have 

 originated accidentally in a field at Uamlingay, in Cambridgeshire. 



2. The Entire- Leaved Ash ; with all its leaves simple, broad, ovate, 

 coarsely serrated, and puckered. Nothing can well be more unlike 

 the common ash than this, which nevertheless appears upon good 

 RMtlmritv to be merely a seedling variety. Out of leaf it is hardly 

 diitingiiixbable by its branches from its prototype. 



3. P. criipa, the Curled-Leafed Ash ; with very short stunted 

 branches, and deep green crumpled leaves. If this is, as it is said to 

 be, a mere monstrous variety of P. csctltior, it is one of the most 

 remarkable with which we are acquainted. It has a particularly 

 dark aspect; its leaves are so thick, and its shoots so short, that 

 it forms a blackish round-headed tree of the smallest dimensions. 

 Ito origin is unknown ; it, as well as the Ornut, is sometimes called 

 /'. Theojihraiti. 



4. P. verncon, the Warted-Barked Ash. In this the stems are 

 covered over with a great number of little grayish brown tubercle* ; 

 otherwise the plant has the appearance of the common ash. 



Besides this, the only European ash that deserves notice is the P. 

 l>arrifolia, Small-Leaved Ash. It* foliage is much finer and nar- 

 rower than in P. esctltior ; the leaflet* are narrow and finely serrated, 

 the bark is rugged, the growth Blow, and instead of the toughness so 

 characteristic of the latter species, the branches are so brittle as to be 

 liable to constant injury from high winds. It is however a very 

 beautiful tree, and for ornamental purposes where size is no object, 

 it should be planted, especially as a single tree. It is possible that 

 P. rotlraia may be a variety of it : but nothing can be inure erroneous 

 than the idea that it is itself a variety of P. uctltior. It is found 

 only in the southern parts of Europe. 



In the Levant occurs the /'. lintiififoliii, Leutisk Ash, a most 

 graceful species, with long narrow leaves, composed of five or six 

 pairs of small, distinct, sharply serrated, shining leaflets. It inbabiU 

 the country about Aleppo, and is hardy in this country, where it 

 forms a tree of the most elegant appearance, intermediate, as it wrn , 

 iu appearance between a willow and an ash. The branches arc deep 

 rich purple. It is often called /'. Ckiueiuu in the nurseries,. 



With regard to the species of American Ash we have, in the first 

 place, to remark that they are not well adapted to this climate, being 

 in general too ill prepared by our short cold summers to bear our 

 winters, and moreover injured by spring frosts : circumstances much 

 to be regretted, because some of the species prove very handsome 

 trees. In the second place, the number of species has no doubt been 

 greatly exaggerated by writers upon garden botany ; we cannot how- 

 ever at all agree with a modern writer upon these subjects, who 

 believes all the American ashes to be one and the same species. The 

 following are, we think, undoubtedly distinct : - 



P. pulietcau, the Black American or Downy Ash, with three or four 

 pairs of leaflets, which are nearly entire, flat, dowuy beneath, as well 

 as the branches. A swamp tree in the middle states of the American 

 Union. 



/'. Americana, the White American Ash, with seldom more than 

 three pairs of leaflets, which are smooth, flat, nearly entire, and 

 glaucous on the under side ; the branches smooth. A large tree in 

 Cauada and the northern states of America, 



P. aambucifolia, the Water-Ash, or Elder-Leaved Ash, with three or 

 four pairs of leaflets, which are rugose, constantly serrated, hairy at 

 the axils of the leaves underneath ; when bruised smelling a little 

 like elder ; buds deep blue. A common tree in forests in the northern 

 parts of North America. 



/'. qaadranyulata, with the shoots distinctly and sharply quadran- 

 gular. A tree from Ohio, among the most unsuitable of the American 

 ashes for this climate. 



P. epiptera, the Wing-Topped, Seeded, or Two-Coloured Ash, with 

 the keys very brood and wedge-shaped at the upper end and taper at 

 the base. The young branches are green, covered with white dots. 

 A small tree, found all through the American Union. 



All the foregoing can be procured in the English nurseries, and 

 they perhaps form the only distinct species of the genus. A great 

 many supposed species were distinguished by the late Mr. Dose, whose 

 names are current iu collections ; but they can scarcely be deternniH .1 

 with precision. A fine collection of Ashos exists iu one of the 

 enclosures in Kensington Gardens. 



/'. Caroliniana, the Carolina Ash, has 2 or 3 pairs of leaflets, oval, 

 petiolate, serrated, glabrous, and shining above. The flowers are 

 calyculate. The branches glabrous and, like the budx, ln-mmi-li. 

 Tho racemes loose, an inch and a half long, often twin from the 

 same bud. The pedicles numerous and umbellate. The calyx 

 small and campanulate. It id a tree from 30 to 50 feet high ; native 

 from Pennsylvania to Carolina. It in a very remarkable varirtv, 

 readily distinguished by the size of iU leaflets, which are nearly 

 round. In America it is entirely neglected as a timber-tree, and in 

 Europe it is solely considered as ornamental. 



There are a great many varieties of the species P. trceltior, some of 

 whieh undoubtedly deserve to be considered distinct species. Several 

 of them yield the sweet resinous laxative substance known by the 

 name of Manna. P. ejcceltior not only produces it in the warm 

 climate of South Europe, but is reported to have a tonic febrifugal 

 bark aud leaves almost as cathartic as those of Senna, producing 

 unequivocal action on the system. 



The species of this genus which moat extensively produce Manna 

 are now described under the genus 



Ornut, or Flowering Ashes. 



0, KurojKta, or Common Manna-Anli, i a small round-headed tree, 

 with leaves resembling those of the Common Ash, only the 1> 

 are elliptical, abruptly acuminated, and have a considerable collection 

 of bairn at the base of the midrib underneath. In the summer when 

 the leaves are full grown the trees become ornamented with a pro- 

 fusion of white delicate blossoms, which give them a strikingly 

 beautiful appearance. The species inhabits the southern parts of 

 Europe, especially the woods of Calabria and Apulia, and in those 

 countries flowers iu April. 



