CHAPTER LIX: THE ASHES AND THE FRINGE 



TREE 



Family OleacevC 



1. Genus FRAXINUS, Linn. 



Valuable timber and ornamental trees. Leaves deciduous, 

 pinnately compound, opposite. Flowers small, inconspicuous, 

 in compound panicles; the two kinds, except in A, borne on 

 separate trees. Fruit 2l dry seed, winged like a dart. 



KEY TO MOST IMPORTANT SPECIES 



A. Twigs 4-angled; flowers perfect. 



(F. quadrangulata) blue ash 

 AA. Twigs round; flowers dioecious. 



B. Branchlets, petioles and leaf linings smooth. 

 C. Buds brown; leaflets stalked. 

 D. Leaves whitish beneath. 



E. Wings of fruit broad; leaflets blunt. 



(F. Caroliniana) swamp ash 

 EE. Wings of fruit narrow; leaflets taper pointed. 



(F. Americana) white ash 

 DD. Leaves green beneath. (F. lanceolaia) green ash 

 CC. Buds black; leaflets sessile. (F. nigra) black ash 



BB. Branchlets, petioles and leaf linings downy. 

 C. Twigs slender; keys very long and slender. 



(F. Pennsylvanica) red ash 

 CC. Twigs stout; leaves pale green. 



D. Trunk cylindrical. (F. Oregona) Oregon ash 



DD. Trunk bulging at base. (F. profunda) pumpkin ash 



Ash trees are easily distinguished in the woods by the opposite 

 arrangement of their pinnately compound leaves. Hickories, 

 walnuts, and other trees with similar leaves will be found to have 

 an alternate arrangement. The snugly fitting bark, broken into 

 small, often diamond-shaped plates, gives the trunk of an ash 

 a trim, handsome appearance in the winter woods. The seeds, 



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