Fraxinus 865 



cotyledons, when developed, are about f to i| inch long, oblong, obtuse, entire, 

 glabrous, pale beneath, tapering at the base into a very short winged petiole. Caulicle 

 terete, i to 3 inches long, ending in a long yellow, fleshy, flexuose tap-root. Young 

 stem, green and glabrous, terete below, angled above. First pair of leaves, arising 

 I to 1 inch above the cotyledons, simple, ovate, acuminate or acute, irregularly 

 serrafe and ciliate, minutely pubescent, on a winged petiole about \ inch long. 

 Second pair of leaves, three-foliolate, on a petiole about an inch long, the terminal 

 leaflet the largest. Third pair with either three or five leaflets. 



Identification 



The common ash is only liable to be confused with species like F angustifolia 

 and F oxycarpa ; but is readily distinguished by its black buds, and the crenate 

 serrations more numerous than the lateral nerves in the leaflets. 



In winter, the twigs are stout, shining-grey or olive green, compressed towards 

 the tip, swollen at the nodes. Leaf-scars, opposite, obliquely set on projecting 

 pulvini, semicircular or almost orbicular, often with lateral projecting horns, and 

 showing an almost circular row of bundle -dots. Terminal buds black, conical, 

 quadrate, with four scales visible externally, but consisting altogether of seven to 

 eight pairs of scales. Lateral buds smaller, given off at a wide angle, with two or 

 three external scales. 



Varieties 



The common ash, though distributed over a wide area, varies little in the wild 

 state ; and such varieties, as have been based on the form of the fruit, cannot be 

 considered as well established. Near Perpignan a form with small leaves has been 

 collected, which is var. australis, Godron et Grenier, Flore de France, ii. 471. In 

 the province of Talysch in the Caucasus, a remarkable form occurs with large 

 leaflets, velvety pubescent underneath ; and the shoots, buds, and leaf-rachis are 

 densely pubescent. This variety, which was described by Scheele 1 as a distinct 

 species (F. coriarcefolia), is said by Koch 2 to be met with occasionally in cultivation 

 in gardens, where it is known as Fraxinus expansa. 



A curious variation in the common ash was observed by A. D. Richardson 8 in 

 the case of four young plants, found growing in a clump of several hundreds, on 

 the banks of the Boyne near Navan in Co. Meath. The leader shoots had the 

 leaves alternate in a 2/5 spiral arrangement, instead of the normal opposite and 

 decussate one. 



Numerous varieties have been obtained as seedlings in nurseries or as isolated 

 specimens growing wild. 



1 Linnaa, xvii. 350 (1843). 2 Dendrotogie, ii. I, 243 (1872). 3 Gard. Chron. xxxvi. 133, fig. 55 (1904). 



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