THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES. 241 



years.* There arc specimens of this tree on the 

 Schuylkill River and in the vicinity of Philadelphia 

 which measure 50 feet in height, and have a trunk 



circumference of four feet. 



White Ash. The white ash is one of the QO- 



Fraxinus Americana, ^\ est Q f our forest trees, and One 



which is second only to • the oak in value for its 

 timber. This stately tree measures 60 <>r 7<> and 

 sometimes 100 or 120 feet in height. In the forest 

 its rather slim upright branches usually reach far 

 above those of its neighbors. Its compound leaf 

 (eight to twelve inches long) is composed of from 

 five to nine (usually seven) leaflets; these are deep 

 green, smooth above, and pale, silvery green below, 

 with a trifle of down on the ribs ; the teeth are 

 very indistinct, or else the leaf edge is quite unbro- 

 ken. The leaf stem is smooth and grooved, and 

 the leaflet steins are quite a quarter of an inch 

 long. The tall, heavy trunk on large specimens is 

 gray, with deep intersecting furrows which cut the 

 bark into short ridges. 



The ash is one of the latest trees to unfold its 

 leaves in the spring, and in autumn, after the first 

 severe frost, they blacken and fall to the ground; 



* Vide Trees and Tree-Planting, .1. S. Brisbin. Bui I am in- 

 clined to doubt this. A box elder I know ol owr twentj \ 



old, still shows signs of development. 

 17 



