Fraxinus americana, 
THE AMERICAN ASH-TREE. 
Synonymes. 
Fraxinus americana, 
Frene d'Amerique, Frene blanc, 
Amerikanische Esche, 
Frassino americano, 
American Ash, 
White Ash, Green Ash, 
Willdenow, Linnsei Species Plantarum. 
Michaux, North American Sylva. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
Britain. 
Anglo-America. 
Derivations. This species is called Frbie blanc, or White Ash, from the superior whiteness of its wood, over every othei 
species of the genus. 
Engravi?igs. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 118 ; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii., fig. 1055, and vi., pi. 209 ; and 
the figures below. 
Specific Characters. Leaflets 7, petiolate, oblong, acuminate, shining above, quite entire, glaucous beneath. 
Flowers calyculate. Bon, Miller's Diet. 
Description. 
iHE 
Fraxinus ameri- 
cana, from the quali- 
ties of its wood, the 
i^l^H rapidity of its growth, 
and the beauty of its foliage, is one of the most 
interesting among American trees. In favour- 
able situations, it sometimes attains the height 1 
of eighty feet, with a trunk three feet in diam- 
eter, and often is undivided for more than half 
of its length. The bark is deeply furrowed, with 
the ridges crossing each other in such a man- 
ner, as to give the spaces between, the shape 
of a lozenge, or what is usually called diamond 
form. When grown in an open field or lawn, 
the branches diverge from the central stem, in 
a double curve, like those of a chandelier, di- 
minishing in length, with great regularity as 
they proceed upwards. The twigs are thick, 
and do not taper to a point, but end abruptly, in spring, with a large terminal 
bud. The shoots of the first two years' growth are of a bluish-gray colour, and 
are perfectly smooth. The buds, which are intensely bitter, are large and broad, 
and are of a pale-brown" colour, by which latter circumstance this tree is easily 
distinguished from the European species. The leaves are from twelve to four- 
teen inches long, opposite, and composed of three or four pairs of leaflets, sur- 
mounted by an odd one. They are borne on short petiolules, are three or four 
inches long, about two inches broad, oval-acuminate, rarely denticulated, of a 
delicate texture, with an undulated surface. Early in the spring, they are cov- 
ered with a light down, which gradually disappears, and at the approach of sum- 
mer, they are perfectly smooth, of a light-green colour above, and whitish beneath. 
This difference in the colour of the surfaces of the leaflets is peculiar to this spe- 
