54 



OLEINjE. XIV. FRAXINUS. 



come out late, and fall early. The fertile trees also generally 

 exhaust themselves so much in bearing keys or fruit, that their 

 foliage is scanty, and their appearance unsightly. The trees, 

 however, which bear male flowers only, have a full and verdant 

 foliage, and make a handsome figure, though late in the season. 

 It is well calculated for standards and clumps, in large parks and 

 plantations, and for groves and woods. It will grow in very 

 barren soils, and in the bleakest and most exposed situations. 

 It is so hardy as to endure the sea winds, and may therefore be 

 planted on the coast, where few trees will prosper. If planted 

 by ditch sides, or in low, boggy meadows, the roots act as under- 

 drains, and render the ground about them firm and hard ; the 

 timber, however, is in this case of little value. It was natural 

 that our remote ancestors, when the island was overrun with 

 wood, should value trees rather for their fruit than their timber ; 

 it is no wonder, then, that by the laws of Howel Dda, the price of 

 an oak or a beech should be 120 pence, while the ash, because 

 it furnished no food for swine, was valued only at fourpence. 

 The Edda or Woden, however, holds the ash in the highest 

 veneration ; and man is described as being formed from it. 

 Hesiod, in like manner, deduces his brazen race of men from the 

 ash ; and in his Theogony has nymphs of the name of MeXiat- 

 It is probably owing to the remains of Gothic veneration for this 

 tree, that the country people, in the south-east part of the king- 

 dom, split young ashes, and pass their distempered children 

 through the chasm, in hopes of a cure. They have also a 

 superstitious custom of boring a hole in an ash, and fastening in 

 a shrew mouse ; a few strokes with a branch of this tree is 

 then accounted a sovereign remedy against cramps and lameness 

 in cattle, which are ignorantly supposed to proceed from this 

 harmless animal. In many parts of the highlands of Scotland, at 

 the birth of a child, the nurse or midwife puts one end of a green 

 stick of this tree into the fire, and, while it is burning, receives 

 into a spoon the sap or juice, which oozes out at the other end, 

 and administers this as the first spoonful of liquor to the new 

 born babe. 



The facility with which the ash is propagated, and adapts 

 itself to any soil or situation, even the worst ; the quickness of its 

 growth ; and the general demand for the timber, in every part of 

 the country, for a variety of rural and economical purposes ; 

 recommend this tree very much to the planter. 



The following are the most remarkable varieties of the Common Ash. 



Var. ft, pendula; branches pendulous. J; . H. Ait. hort. 

 kew. ed. 2. vol. 5. p. 475. The Weeping Ash. 



Var. y, aurea; (Willd. enum. p. 1059.) branches yellow, 

 dotted ; leaflets sessile, lanceolate, unequally serrulated, acu- 

 minated, cuneated at the base, glabrous, fj. H. F. aurea, 

 Pers. ench. 2. p. 604. The yellow-barked Ash. 



Var. S, crispa ; leaflets dark green, curled. ^ . H. F. 

 crispa, Bosc. F. atrovirens, Desf. arb. 1. p. 104. 



Var. f, jaspidea (Willd.) bark and wood marked with veins. 



Var. , argentea (Desf. arb.) leaves variegated with white. 

 The silver-striped-leaved Ash. 



Var. i), lutea; leaves edged with yellow. The golden- striped- 

 leaved Ash. 



Var. S, erosa (Pers. ench. 1. p. 604.) leaflets erosely toothed. 



Var. i, horizontal (Desf. Pers. 1. c.) branches horizontal. 

 The horizontal-branched Ash. 



Var. K, verrucosa (Desf. Pers. 1. c.) branches warted. The 

 warted-barked Ash. 



Var. \, striata. The striped-barked Ash. 



Var. p, fungosa. The spongy-barked Ash. 



Var. v, verticillata. The whorled-leaved Ash. 



Taller or Common Ash. Fl. March, April. Britain. Tree 

 50 to 80 feet. 



2 F. NA'NA (Willd. enum. 1068) leaflets sessile, usually 5 

 pairs, ovate-oblong, acute, unequally serrulated, roundly cuneated 

 at the base. Jj . H. Native of Europe. F. excelsior, var. 

 nana, Hortul. Branches grey. Buds brownish, black. Leaflets 

 5-6 pair, 1^ inch long, and hardly -j inch broad, glabrous. 



Dwarf Ash. Fl. April, May. Clt. ? Shrub 6 to 10 feet. 



3 F. roLEMONUFOLiA (Poir. in Duh. ed. nov. 4. p. 66. diet, 

 suppl. 2. p. 671.) leaflets usually 4-5 pairs, quite glabrous, 

 sharply-toothed, ovate, nearly sessile ; petioles a little winged, 

 tj . H. Native country unknown. F. nana, Desf. hort. par. et 

 arb. 1. p. 104. F. nana (appendiculata), Pers, ench. 2. p. 605. 

 F. appendiculata, Lodd. cat. A humble-branched Shrub. 

 Branches of a livid lead colour. Leaflets approximate, 6-7 lines 

 long, and 3 lines broad, acute. Common petioles winged. 



Greek-Valerian-leaved Ash. Fl. April, May. Clt. ? Sli. 



4 F. HETEROPHY'LLA (Vahl. enum. 1. p. 53.) leaves simple 

 or ternate, dentately serrated ; samara oblong-lanceolate, an 

 inch long, obtuse and emarginate at the apex. Fj . H. Native 

 of Europe. In England, in woods, but rare. F. simplicifolia, 

 Willd. spec. 4. p. 1098. berl. baumz. p. 121. t. 3. f. 3. Smith, 

 engl. hot. t. 2476. F. monophy'lla, Desf. arb. 1. p. 102. F. 

 excelsior, var. simplicifolia, Hort. F. excelsior, ft, diversifolia, 

 Ait. F. excelsior, t, Lam. diet. 2. p. 554. F. excelsior, ft, 

 heterophylla, D. C. F. integrifolia and diversifolia, Hort. Leaves 

 usually simple, but sometimes ternate and quinate, 3-4 inches 

 long, ovate, sub-cordate, or acuminate at the base and apex. 

 Branches dotted. Buds black. Perhaps only a variety of F. 

 excelsior. 



Various-leaved Ash Tree. Fl. April, May. England. Tree 

 30 to 40 feet. 



5 F. PARVIFOLIA (Willd. spec. 4. p. 1101.) leaflets 5-7 pairs, 

 sessile, roundish-ovate and oblong, attenuated at the base, quite 

 entire at the base, but sharply serrated at the apex, mucronate ; 

 flowers naked. ^ H. Native of the Levant. Willd. berl. 

 baumz. p. 155. t. 2. f. 2. Tenor, syll, p. 9. no. 5. Branches 

 purplish, trigonal at the top. It differs from F. rotund/folia 

 in the leaflets being more copious, in the bases not being unequal, 

 and the buds being brown. The juice of tliis tree is the manna 

 of Sicily. It is called Frassino mistino, and Frassino lentisco, 

 in Sicily. 



Small-leaved Ash-tree. Fl. April, May. Clt. 1 822. Tree 

 20 to 30 feet. 



6 F. TAMARISCIFOLIA (Vahl. enum. 1. p. 52.) leaflets petio- 

 late, oblong and lanceolate, sharply serrated : serratures mucro- 

 nate. T? . H. Native about Aleppo. Fr. lentiscifolia, Desf. 

 cat. hort. par. p. 52. Willd. spec. 4. p. 1101. F. parvifolia, 

 Lam. diet. 2. p. 540. F. Aleppensis, Plukn. phyt. 182. f. 4. 

 Branches dark purple. Buds brown. Leaflets 4-5 pairs, ex 

 Vahl. 6-7 pairs, ex Willd. inch long, terminal one smaller than 

 the lateral ones. Flowers naked. Samara narrow, gradually 

 widening to the apex, and retuse. 



Tamarisk-leaved Ash-tree. Fl. May, June. Clt. 1710. Tr. 



7 F. ARGE'NTEA ; leaves with usually 3 pairs of rather coria- 

 ceous, elliptic-ovate, shortly cuspidate, bluntly-toothed leaflets, 

 on short petiolules. I? . H. Native of Corsica, in the fissures 

 of rocks. Fraxinus argentea, Lois. fl. gall. 6U7. Leaves sil- 

 very grey. Nearly allied to O'rnus Europae'a. 



Silvery-leaved Ash. Fl. April, May. Clt. 1825. Tree. 



8 F. SAMBUCIFOLIA (Vahl. enum. 1. p. 51.) leaflets sessile, 

 ovate-lanceolate, serrated, having the axils of the veins 

 villous beneath. I? . H. Native from Canada to Carolina. 

 Willd. spec. 4. p. 1099. Muhl. nov. act. scrut. berol. 3. p. 393. 

 Pursh. fl. sept. amer. 1. p. 8. Michx. fig. arb. icon. F. nigra, 

 Mcench. F. crispa, Hort. Young branches green, beset with 

 black dots. Buds brown. Leaflets 3 pairs, 3-4 inches long, 

 acute at both ends. Flowers like those of the Common Ash. 



12 



