208 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 



Ash (Fraxinus excelsior, L.) 



The Ash is an ancient tree, having been met with in Interglacial 

 beds in Herts and Neolithic beds in Essex. Its range to-day is the 

 North Temperate Zone of Europe except Greece and N. Africa. In 

 Great Britain it is not found in N. Aberdeen, W. Sutherland, the 

 Orkneys, or Shetlands, but elsewhere universally, and it is very largely 

 planted. It ascends to 1350 ft. in Yorks. 



The common Ash is now so generally distributed, owing to en- 

 closure and the better maintenance of highways and planting of trees 

 in hedgerows, that it is difficult to distinguish where the Ash is indi- 

 genous or not, except where it forms natural woodland as it does 

 which shelters a ground flora distinct from either that of the Oak, 

 Hazel, or Beech. As a rule, it is seen most often in the hedgerow 

 to-day, and is a frequent wayside tree. 



It is a tall, erect tree, with a leaden-hued bark, which in the main 

 stem is cracked, the young branches being smooth. The branches at 

 first droop down gracefully and then curve upward again, giving it a 

 characteristic habit. 



The opposite pinnate compound leaves with prominent leaf-cushions, 

 the black resting buds, and the thick, scarred twigs, with the incon- 

 spicuous tufts of flowers, and, finally, the winged seeds or " keys", serve 

 to distinguish the Ash from any other British tree. 



The usual height is about 50 ft., but it may reach 100 ft. The 

 trunk is never very thick, rarely exceeding i yd. in diameter. In 

 woods it is straight, cylindrical, and unbranched for some distance. 

 In the open the boughs spread out in a radial manner at a distance 

 of 10 ft. from the ground. There is usually a second series of boughs 

 apart from one or two central ones which form a second tier of ascend- 

 ing branches. 



The buds l are black, the terminal one large, the blackness being 

 due to hairs which clothe the four scales enclosing the leaves. The 

 twigs are coarse and nodular. The dwarf shoots are rough and leafless, 

 and the leaf cushions are separated by short internodes. The leaves 

 are opposite and in 4 rows, petiolate, 2 without stipules. Each leaf 

 possesses 4-6 pairs of sessile opposite leaflets and a terminal leaflet, 

 which are acute and toothed. The bole has a smooth bark at first, but 



1 The buds are pointed and flattened at the end of the twi^.s, which arc also flattened. 



2 The leaf-stalk is furrowed alwve, and opposite the- leaflets arc openings to direct the raindrops from 

 the leaflets. Moisture is absorbed by special hairs. The bud-scales are petioles or stalks, with undeveloped 

 leaflets at the apex. The outer ones are thick, furry inside, the second pair furry outside, and on this they 

 are more so. 



