The Ashes and the Fringe Tree 



leaf-like. Leaves in May, 12 to 16 inches long, of 7 to 1 1 oblong- 

 lanceolate leaflets, all but terminal one sessile; margins with 

 incurving teeth, upper surfaces dark green, smooth; lower pale 

 with rufous hairs in tufts along pale midribs; fall early, after 

 turning rusty brown. Flowers, May, before leaves, dioecious, in 

 axillary panicles; stamens dark purple with short filaments; 

 pistils with long cleft purple stigmas, often with abortive stamens 

 below. Fruit winged keys in open panicles, 8 to 10 inches long; 

 seed flat, short, surrounded by wing which is broad, thin and 

 conspicuously notched. Preferred habitat, deep, cold swamps 

 and stream borders. Distribution, Newfoundland and north 

 shore of Gulf of St. Lawrence to Manitoba; south to Delaware and 

 the mountains of Virginia, southern Illinois, central Missouri, and 

 northwestern Arkansas. Uses: Wood especially suited for 

 baskets, chair bottoms and barrel hoops; also used for fencing and 

 fuel, for cabinet work and furniture. Saplings used for hop and 

 bean poles. 



If you have learned to recognise an ash tree at sight, it is 

 an easy matter to distinguish the black ash at any time of year. 

 It is the slenderest of them all, rarely more than a foot in diameter, 

 even though its height be over 50 feet. The trunk looks like a 

 dark grey granite column, so even and close textured is its bark. 

 In winter the blue-black buds are our best identification sign. 

 They are only "exceeded in blackness" by the buds of the Euro- 

 pean ash (F. excelsior). Tennyson, describing the eyes of the 

 gardener's daughter, uses this striking simile: "Black as ash 

 buds in the front of March." The foliage is so dark green it looks 

 black at a distance and the side leaflets have no stalks. 



Like its European cousin, the black ash is unusually late in 

 coming out in the spring. Often it is the middle of May before the 

 black outer pair of bud scales fall, and the two inner pairs broaden 

 and lengthen and turn green to help for a short season the opening 

 leaves. As a rule the staminate flowers are on different trees 

 from those bearing the pistillate, and rarely a few perfect ones. 



The black ash is not a tree for the lawn. It loves to stand 

 with its roots submerged, and often dies of thirst in the rich loam 

 of a garden. It is a short-lived tree, at best, and very slow of 

 growth; it keeps its foliage but a short time, turning a dull, rusty 

 hue in early autumn. So we shall not wish to plant it anywhere 

 unless perhaps in swampy land. The roots range far and wide 



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