Fraxinus.] LI. OLEINE.E. 303 



cactus leaves. The gathering of the produce begins when the stems have a thick- 

 ness of at least 3 inches. The cuts are nearly horizontal, 1^-2 in. long, and 1 in. 

 apart. One cut is made daily, beginning at the base of the tree, the next directly 

 above the first, and so on, while dry weather lasts. In wet weather, or when 

 the sirocco blows, the manna dissolves and cannot be collected. The best time 

 for notching is July and August, and the weather most favourable to produce 

 is that in which there are steady north and north-west winds, dry air, moderate 

 heats and calm nights. In the second year the cuts are made in the untouched 

 part of the stem, and when after some years #ie tree has been all cut round, it 

 is exhausted, and should be felled. The trees are replaced by coppice-shoots 

 from the stool, and by planting. This is the procedure in Sicily, as described 

 by Dr Cleghorn in Trans. Bot. Soc. Edinb. vol. x. 1870, p. 132. 



F. retusa, Champ, of China, is also near to F. floribunda, but the calyx is 

 larger and truncate, and the samara is always emarginate. 



2. F. excelsior, Linn. \ Hook. Stud. Fl. 238. Vern. Sum, hum, Pb. 



A large glabrous tree. Leaflets 3-5 in. long, 1J-2 in. broad, 2-4 pair, 

 elliptic, or elliptic-oblong, acuminate, serrate, membranous, the terminal 

 petiolulate, the lateral sessile or subsessile, with grey or tawny floccose 

 pubescence underneath along the midrib ; main lateral nerves 6-8 pair. 

 Samaras on slender pedicels, in lateral drooping racemes, sometimes com- 

 pound at the base ; linear, 1-1 J in. long, J in. broad, flat, with 5 or more 

 longitudinal nerves from the base, branching and anastomosing above 

 the seed-part ; base narrowed, without any trace of calyx, apex acute, 

 obtuse or emarginate, often with the remains of style. 



I have examined numerous specimens from N.W. India, but only in fruit. 

 There is no doubt, however, that it belongs to the section Fraxinaster without 

 corolla. F. syriaca, Boiss., which is found in Afghanistan, has elliptic samaras, 

 grey and subcoriaceous leaves ; the other allied species (or varieties) of Western 

 Asia and South Europe (F. oxyphylla, Bieb., F. rostrata, Gussone, F. australis, 

 Gay, and F. angustifolia, Vahl), have lanceolate and deeply serrate leaflets. 

 It thus stands nearer to F. excelsior than to any other species known to me, the 

 principal difference being in the number of leaflets, which are 4-6 pair in the 

 common ash. But forms with 1-4 pair are not uncommon, and there is a well- 

 known variety with unifoliolate leaves (F. heterophylla, Vahl). However, until 

 flowering specimens are examined, the identification of this tree with F. 

 excelsior, which was first made by Dr Stewart, must be regarded as provisional. 



N. W. Himalaya. Basin of the Jhelam, Chenab and Ravi rivers, between 

 4000 and 6000 ft. Europe, Caucasus, North Persia (Buhse). New leaves and 

 flowers in April, May ; fr. June, July. A large, handsome tree in the N.W. 

 Himalaya, 50-60 ft. high, with a straight tall trunk, attaining 7 ft. girth, 

 branches erect or spreading, often with drooping branchlets, forming a lax, 

 oval, pyramidal crown, in old trees rounded. Bark ^ in. thick, or more, 

 brownish -grey, or greyish- or yellowish - green, smooth between longitudinal 

 cracks. 



The wood of the European Ash is whitish, with brown, often mottled heart- 

 wood, the medullary rays are narrow and very numerous, the annual rings 

 clearly marked, each ring consisting of an inner belt, which is very porous, the 

 tissue between the medullary rays being mainly composed of numerous large 

 pores, and an outer more compact belt with few pores. Its weight varies be- 

 tween wide limits ; slowly-grown wood, with narrow rings and a larger propor- 

 tion of porous tissue, being sometimes lighter than wood which had grown more 





