Ornus americana, 
THE AMERICAN FLOWERING ASH. 
Synonymes. 
Frazinus americana, 
Ornus americana, 
Ornier d'Amerique, 
Amerikanische Bliihende-Esche. 
Orno americano, 
American Flowering Ash, 
Linnjstjs, Species Plantarum. 
Pursh, Flora Americse Septentrionalis. 
Don, Miller's Dictionary. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
Britain and Anglo- America. 
Engravings. Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii., fig. 1070; and the figures below. 
Specific Characters Leaves with 2 5 pairs of oblong or ovate-acuminated, shining, serrated leaflets, eacn 
3 5 in. long, and 2 in. broad, and having the larger veins rather villous, glaucous, and paler beneath, 
the odd one rather cordate. Flowers with petals, disposed in terminal panicles. Branches brownish- 
gray. Buds brown. Samara narrow, obtuse, mucronate. Bon, Miller's Diet. 
Description. 
I! HE Ornus americana is a beautiful 
1J8 h H is tree, growing to a height of thirty 
ifi LI !& or f rt y f eet ) an d flowering in 
April and May. The difference 
between this sort and the manna ash of Europe is so very 
slight, that doubts are entertained by some, of there being 
but one species. It is a native of North America, and was 
introduced into Britain in 1820, where it is cultivated for 
ornament, and is highly prized. There are plants of it 
in the Horticultural Society's garden, at London, and in 
the arboretum at Kew, where, in the last-named place, it is grafted on the Frax- 
inus excelsior; and the point where the scion was inserted in the stock, is said to 
have enlarged nearly as much as the stock itself, a proof that the American flow- 
ering ash is a more robust-growing tree than the Ornus europsea, which was also 
engrafted in a similar manner, but did not increase in the same ratio with the 
stock. When no other mode can be obtained of rendering a tree gardenesque, 
Mr. Loudon suggests, that, in order to give the trunk an architectural base, a slow- 
growing species may be grafted on one that is more vigorous ; and that the appli- 
cation of the art of grafting might be worth adopting for certain ornamental trees 
to be planted in exposed situations ; for an architectural base to a tree is strongly 
expressive of its stability. 
