Fraxinus 88 1 



interior of Spain, I picked up the seed of an ash near the Escorial ; but the leaves 

 having fallen, I did not ascertain the species, but sending them to England they 

 vegetated, and are now growing in Northumberland. This is the same tree, and 

 I have never seen it farther north than New Castile ; at the same time I think it 

 probably may exist as far as Leon, where, the instant you cross the chain, the 

 Fraxinus excelsior, our common species, supplies its place ; at least, I could make out 

 no difference. The timber of F lentiscifolia is heavy and less elastic than that of 

 our species, but the elegance of the tree, and its perfect hardiness in a dry soil, should 

 make it more common than it is in our ornamental collections." 



This species ' replaces the common ash in Algeria, where it is only found wild 

 in quantity in the forests of the plains and along the banks of streams and rivers ; 

 but it ascends as isolated trees occasionally to 6000 feet in the mountains, and is 

 reported to be common in the Djurdjura range. I saw it growing in fields near the 

 forest of Akfadou, inland from Bougie, where the trees have a mutilated appearance, 

 owing to the annual lopping of their branches by the natives, who feed their cattle 

 with the leaves. 2 In Algeria 3 the tree attains a large size, and grows in good soil 

 with great rapidity, reaching a height of 90 feet by 3 feet in diameter at seventy 

 years old. The wood is similar to that of the common ash, though slightly inferior 

 in quality. Dr. Trabut informed me that he had sent seed to Australia, where the 

 tree is said to thrive well, succeeding better than the common ash. 



A tree at Chiswick House measured, in 1903, 75 feet by 7 feet 5 inches. Another 

 at Whitton, near Hounslow, in 1905 was 56 feet by 6 feet 2 inches. At Williamstrip 

 Park, Gloucestershire, in 1904 Elwes measured a tree 60 feet by 6 feet 9 inches. 



The variety lentiscifolia has been identified by us at Syon, 55 feet by 5 feet 

 6 inches in 1905 ; at Hardwick, Bury St. Edmunds, a grafted tree, 72 feet by 6 feet 

 3 inches below the graft and 7 feet 10 inches above it ; at Bicton, another grafted 

 tree, over 50 feet by 6 feet ; and at Stowe, also a grafted tree, 68 feet by 7 feet 

 8 inches. From the similarity in appearance of the trees at Hardwick, Stowe, 

 and Bicton, there is little doubt that they were all propagated and planted at the 

 same time. Elwes has also seen at the Hendre, Monmouthshire, a tree of similar 

 appearance, which was 71 feet high by 5 feet 4 inches below, and 6} feet above 

 the graft. There is also a healthy grafted tree at Ware Park, Herts, growing on 

 sandy soil, which Mr. H. Clinton Baker measured as 78 feet by 6 feet 3 inches in 

 1908. Another (Plate 245) on the lawn at Rougham Hall, the seat of F. K. North, 

 Esq., is 76 feet high by 8J feet above the graft, and 7% feet below it. A third at 

 Ribston Park, Yorkshire, was 68 feet by 6 feet 7 inches. 



It is hardy as far north as Denmark, where Elwes measured in the park of 

 Count Friis, in 1908, at Boiler near Horsens, a grafted tree about 60 feet by 4 

 feet 4 inches, which was bearing immature fruit. (A. H.) 



1 The Algerian tree has been distinguished as var. numidica (F. numidica, Dippel), with broader and larger leaflets ; but 

 specimens gathered by me at Akfadou are typical angustifolia. 



1 M. Maurice L. de Vilmorin, in Bull. Soc. Amis des Arbres, 1895, states that this ash is much planted around villages 

 in Kabylia, where its leaves, which are stripped oft the tree in September, are an indispensable fodder for cattle, sheep, and 

 goats at this season when no grass is available. The foliage of a single tree is usually worth 50 francs ; and he was shown a 

 very old wide-spreading tree, the owner of which sold its leaves annually for 300 francs. 



3 Cf. Lefebvre, Forfts de CAlgirie, 348 (1900). 



IV 7 



