CtASS II. ORDER I.] FRAXINUS. 27 



GENUS VIII. FRAX'INUS. Common Ash. 



Nat. Ord. 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx absent, or in four ovate segments. Corolla ab- 

 sent, or of four linear petals. Capsule flat and foliaceous at the 

 extremity, two-celled, with a seed in each cell (a Samara). Seed 

 solitary, flat, brown, and pendulous. Flowers sometimes without 

 stamens, rarely with stamens only. The name Fraxinus is of 

 doubtful origin : modem botanists, in conformity with the opinion 

 of Linnajus, suppose it to have been taken from the Greek ftftfrfc 

 a separation ; in allusion to the facility with which the wood may 

 be split. Up to the sixteenth century, and in some instances of 

 later date, the name Fraxinus appears to have been applied by 

 different nations to very distinct plants, and the synonymes are in 

 consequence much confused. According to Parkinson, the Greek 

 name for the Ash is /xsXa, Melia ; while the Latins give it the 

 name of Fraxinus, by which it is now universally known. It 

 may be interesting to our young readers to be reminded that the 

 Syrian plant, Melia Azedarach, is of robust growth, with irregu- 

 larly pinnate leaves, in general appearance not unlike our common 

 Ash, Fraxinus excelsior, with which it would seem to have been 

 confounded. 



1. F. excel' sior, (Fig. 39.) common Ash. Calyx and corolla want- 

 ing, leaves pinnate, leaflets lanceolate acuminate scarcely stalked, 

 serrated. 



English Botany, t. 1692. English Flora, vol. i. p. 14. Lindley, 

 Synopsis, p. 71. Hooker, British Flora, vol. i. p. 12. . heterophyl'la, 

 (simple-leaved Ash,) leaves both simple and compound, Eng. Bot. t. 

 2476 ; Eng. Flor. vol. i. p. 14. F. simplicifo'lia, Willd. F. excelsior, 

 var. 2. With. 



One of the most noble, and not the least elegant and ornamental, of our 

 native trees. The young trees, and the branches of the old ones are clothed 

 with grey bark, the wood tough and white. Buds of a dark brown or 

 black colour, breaking into leaf late in the season. Leaves pinnate. 

 Common leaf-stalk channelled above, with from four to eight pairs 

 and an odd one of opposite, serrated, acuminated leaflets, which are 



f The natural order Oleacea contains many ornamental shrubs and trees, 

 some of which produce fragrant flowers. The most important and best known 

 genera are the Olive, Olea ; the Manna Ash, Ornus ; the Lilac, Syringa ; the 

 Privet, Ligustrum ; and the Ash, Fraxinus. They were united with Jasminar,, 

 and to which they are still referred by some authors. The most remarkable cir- 

 cumstance, however, in favour of their separation, is the fact, as observed by De 

 Candolle, of their capability of being grafted upon each other, proving the simi- 

 litude of their vascular structure and sap; but the Jasmine cannot be grafted 

 upon any of the Olive tribe, which is demonstrative of the dissimilitude of their 

 structure and sap, and confirms the propriety of the separation of these two 

 tribes. 



