FRAXINUS 563 



grey the second year. Leaves 8 to 1 5 ins. long ; leaflets seven or nine 

 (sometimes five), oblong-lanceolate or oval, stalked ; ordinarily 4 to 6 ins. long 

 (on vigorous young trees 7 or 8 ins.), I to 3 ins. wide ; rounded or tapered at 

 the base, long and slender-pointed, entire or the terminal part toothed ; dark 

 green and smooth above, whitish and downy along the midrib and veins 

 beneath. Common stalk yellowish white, smooth, round, with a scarcely 

 perceptible groove on the upper side ; stalk of lateral leaflets about i in. long, 

 of the terminal one ^ to I in. long. Flowers without petals, produced on the 

 previous year's growth. Fruit I to 2 ins. long, ^ in. wide ; the body roundish. 



Native of Eastern N. America; introduced in 1724. This handsome and 

 striking ash is one of the best of American deciduous trees in this country, 

 being quick-growing and producing timber of similar quality to that of our 

 native species, much esteemed for making oars. There are trees over 80 ft. 

 high at Kew. Whilst there is nothing to show that it is superior to our native 

 ash, it would be worth planting in quantity under forest conditions as an 

 experiment. It appears to grow more quickly in a small state. The dis- 

 tinguishing characters of this ash as compared with other American species of 

 the same character are : its round main leaf-stalk, the white under-surface of 

 the stalked leaflets, and the smooth, dark, young wood. (Compare with 

 F. texensis and F. biltmoreana, its nearest allies.) 



Var. ACUMINATA, Wesmael (F. epiptera, Michaux}. Leaflets almost 

 without down beneath, bright green above, and nearly or quite entire. 



Var. JUGLANDIFOLIA, Rehder. This striking variety has leaflets as much 

 as 9 ins. long, by 3 ins. wide, not conspicuously toothed at the upper half, 

 densely pubescent over the whole under-surface, but not on the main leaf-stalk 

 or young shoots. 



Var. MICROCARPA, Gray. Fruit about ^ in. long ; common in the south- 

 eastern United States. 



F. ANGUSTIFOLIA, Vahl. NARROW-LEAVED ASH. 

 (F. numidica, Dippel.} 



A tree 60 to 70 ft., occasionally 90 ft. high ; young shoots and leaves 

 perfectly smooth. Leaves 6 to 10 ins. long ; leaflets seven to thirteen, 

 lanceolate, I to 3 ins. long, \ to f in. wide, sharply and rather coarsely or even 

 jaggedly toothed except towards the narrowly tapered base ; apex long- 

 pointed ; dark glossy green above. The terminal leaflet is the only one that 

 has a stalk (\ to \ in. long) ; main-stalk with two wings on the upper side 

 forming a groove that is open from the base to the lowest pair of leaflets, but 

 beyond them closed, except where the leaflets are attached. Flowers produced 

 from the joints of the previous year's wood, and with neither calyx nor corolla. 

 Fruits i to i^ ins. long. 



Native of S. Europe and N. Africa. The most distinctive character of the 

 species is the entire absence of down, differing in this respect from its near ally 

 F. oxycarpa. It is an elegant tree, allied botanically to the common ash. 



Var. LENTISCIFOLTA, Henry. Leaflets more spreading (in the typical form 

 they point forwards) and set further apart on the main-stalk, making the leaf 

 sometimes 10 ins. or more long, and the tree very graceful. A form with more 

 slender, pendulous branches is distinguished as PENDULA. 



Nearly allied to, and perhaps scarcely specifically distinct from 

 F. angustifolia, is 



F. OXYCARPA, Willdenow (F. oxyphylla, Biebersteiri). Its leaves have 

 the same number of leaflets, mostly of the same shape and size, but they are 

 always downy about the .midrib and lower veins. Fruits more tapered at 

 the base. The species has - .a more Eastern natural habitat than F. angustifolia, 

 reaching to Persia, the Caucasus, and Asia Minor. (See F. parvifolia.) 



