XLVI1I. 0LEA N CE7E t FRA'xiNUS. fiS9 



Sit * 1 1 F. PHILLYREOI'DES Labill. The Phillyrea- 

 like Fontanesia. 



Identification. Labill. Syr., dec 1 . p. 9. t. 1. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 51. 

 Engravings. Bot. Cab., t. 1308.; and our fig. 1245. 



Spec. Char.,$c. See Gen. Char. A sub-evergreen shrub 

 or low tree. Syria between Laodicea and Mount Cas- 

 sis, and Sicily. Height 10 ft. to 14ft. Introduced 

 in 1787. Flowers greenish white, turning to brownish 

 yellow ; June, and remaining on the tree two or 

 three months. 



Readily propagated by layers, by cuttings, or by 

 grafting on the common privet. Grafted standard 

 high on the ash, it would form a very handsome 

 clrooping-branched tree. 



Sect. III. I*'KAXINIE\E. 

 GENUS VI. 



n 



J^RA'XINUS Tourn. THE ASH. Lin. Syst. Polygamia DioeVia. 



Identification. Tourn. Inst., 343. ; Lin. Gen., No. 11GO. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 53. 



Synonymes. Frdne, Fr. ; Esche, Ger. ; Frassino, Ital. 



Derivation. The derivation of .Fraxinus given in Don's Miller is, from phrasso, to enclose ; the ash 

 having been formerly used for making hedges. Linnaeus derives it from phraxis, a separation, 

 because the wood splits easily. Others derive it from frangitur, because the young branches are 

 easily broken ; or which may have been applied ironically, in allusion to the extreme toughness of 

 the old wood. None of these derivations, however, appears very satisfactory. The English name 

 of Ash may be derived either from the Saxon word cese, a pike ; or from the colour of the bark of 

 the trunk and branches, which resembles that of wood ashes. 



Gen. Char., fyc. Flowers polygamous. Calyx none, or 4-parted, or 4-toothed. 

 Corolla none. Stamens 2, in the male flowers. Anthers sessile, or on short 

 filaments, dehiscing outwardly. Female flowers the same, except that they 

 have no stamens, but have each a pistil that has a bifid stigma. Frtdt, 

 or samara, 2-celled, compressed, winged at top. Cells 1-seeded. (Don's Mi//.) 

 Leaves compound, opposite, exstipulate, deciduous; unequally pinnate. 

 Flowers in lateral racemes, greenish yellow. Fruit, or samara, 2-celled, 

 compressed, winged at top. Trees ; natives of Europe, part of Asia, and 

 North America. 



The species are raised from seeds ; and the varieties chiefly by grafting on 

 .FYaxinus excelsior, but partly also from seeds. There is a great tendency in 

 all the species to sport into varieties ; and many of what are by botanists 

 described as species are, in our opinion, not entitled to that distinction. 

 All the ashes are of easy culture in good soil, and in a sheltered situation. 

 The European ash is one of our most valuable timber trees, as is the Ame- 

 rican ash in North America. 



A. Leaflets broad, smooth or shining on the upper surface. Natives of Europe. 

 * 1. F. EXCE'LSIOR L. The taller, or common, Ash. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., p. 1509. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 53. 



Synonymes. F. apetala Lam. III. t. 858. f. 1. ; F. rostrata Guss. Fl. Rar. p. 374. ; F. O'rnus Scop. 

 * Cam. No. 1249.; F. erbsa Pers. ; F. crispa Base ; le Frene, Fr.; Aesche or Esche, Ger. and 



Dutch ; Ask, Dan. and Swed. ; Frassino, Ital. ; Fresno, Span. ; Freixo, Port. ; Jas, Jasen, or 



Jassen, Russ. ; JEse, Sax. 

 Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 1692. ; the plates in Arb. Brit, 1st. edit., vol. vi. ; and our fig. 1246. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaflets almost sessile, lanceolate-oblong, acuminate, ser- 

 rated, cuneated at the base. Flowers naked. Samara obliquely emarginate 

 at the apex. The leaves have generally 5 pairs of leaflets, but sometimes 6. 



