THE BLACK ASH 



IN summer and autumn the Black Ash is readily distinguished by the sessile leaflets 

 and the very broad key-fruits, the latter having the part which holds the seed much 

 flattened and surrounded by a wing-like projection. In winter the young twigs 

 are not pubescent and the buds are very black. In spring the tree comes into blossom early 

 in May as the leaves are developing, the seed-bearing and the pollen-bearing flowers being 

 borne on different trees. 



It is perhaps as a timber tree that the Black Ash is most famous. Even before the 

 settlement of America by the whites this was a favorite tree with the Indians, who preferred 

 it to all other species for the manufacture of baskets. For this purpose the wood is beaten 

 with mallets until it is so softened that it is easily split into long plaits. One of its chief 

 advantages as a timber tree is the fact that it grows to a great height with very little 

 decrease in diameter, and it is also extraordinarily free from knots and other blemishes. 

 The Black Ash is essentially a tree of swamps and lowlands. It frequently grows 

 along sluggish streams but is not so likely to be found along ordinary river banks as is 

 the White Ash or the Red Ash. It ranges from the Gulf of St. Lawrence westward to 

 Manitoba and southward to Arkansas and Virginia. Like the other Ash trees this species 

 sheds its foliage rather early in autumn and comes into leaf rather late in spring. The 

 latter characteristic they share with the European Ash, of which Tennyson wrote the 

 familiar lines : 



" Why lingereth she to clothe her heart with love, 



Delaying as the tender Ash delays 



To clothe itself, when all the woods are green?" 



The Black Ash is also often called the Swamp Ash and Brown Ash, and in some 

 localities the Basket Ash or Hoop Ash. It is not so generally planted as an ornamental 

 tree as is the White Ash, but it may be used to advantage in wet soil where slender, tall 

 trees are desired. In such situations it appears to best advantage in groups rather than 

 singly. 



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