Handbook of Tkkks of the Nortiiekn States and Canada. 399 



Tlic Pumpkin Ash is :i larp;e tree as found 

 in the swaiiiin- bottom I. iiids of eastern 

 Arkansas and soiilhea>terii Missouri, wiiere it 

 attains the heiglit of lUU ft. or more, with 

 columnar trunk 3 or 4 tt. in diameter abovj 

 its wide base. 



It inhabits deep swamps, the banks of 

 sloughs and streams of eastern Arkansas and 

 southeastern Missouri, and of the valley of the 

 Appalaehicola River in western Florida. It 

 occupies these loL-alities, inundated during a 

 considerable portion of the year, in company 

 with the Bald Cypress, Leitneria, Cotton and 

 Water Gums, Planer-tree, Swamp Poplar, 

 Water Locust, etc. The singular name. 

 Pumpkin Ash, by which it is popularly known, 

 i.^ said to be given to it on account of its wide 

 swollen base which gives it stability in the 

 soft miry ooze in which it grows. The oc- 

 currence of the Pumpkin Ash, Leitnaria and 

 certain other Floridian species in southeastern 

 Missouri and eastern Arkansas indicates an 

 interesting extension of the Floridian fiora 

 -into those regions which is noteworthy, espe- 

 cially as few, if any, of these species have been 

 found in the intermediate regions. 



Leaves large, 0-18 in. long, leaflets 7-9, lanceo- 

 late or ovate-lancpolate and usuall.v inequilateral, 

 entire or nearly so, rounded or cuneate at hasc. 

 acuminate, hairy tomontose at first, at maturity 

 darit green and nearly glabrous al)ov(>, puhi'sccn't 

 beneath : branchlcts and all new growths di^nscly 

 pubescent. Flowers dioecious, the staminate witii 

 a campanulate obscurely 4-toothed calyx ; sta- 

 mens 2-.'{ ; pistillate calyx larger, deeply 4-lobed, 

 accrescent and persistent. Fruit: " samaras, 

 linear-oblong, 2-3 In. long with wing decurrent to 

 below the middle of the terete thick seed-bearing 

 portion. 



