FRAXINUS 567 



stems, smooth leaves, and the production of flowers on the old wood, distinguish 

 it well among the ashes with petalled flowers. 



F. ELONZA, DippeL 



A small, elegant tree with glabrous, grey-green young shoots furnished with 

 whitish warts ; buds dark brown, scurfy. Leaves up to 10 or 1 1 ins. long, with 

 nine to thirteen leaflets, which are ovate, oval or lance-shaped, broadly tapered 

 at the base, shortly pointed, sharply toothed ; I to 3 ins. long, \ to I in. wide ; 

 stalkless, dark dull green, and smooth above, with brownish down densely tufted 

 near the base of the midrib beneath. The main leaf-stalk is whitish beneath, 

 downy in places, winged on the upper side, the wings erect and forming a 

 narrow groove. Flowers and fruit not seen. This ash is of uncertain origin, 

 and is supposed to be a hybrid, probably with F. oxycarpa or F. parvifolia as 

 one parent. It has been cultivated in England since 1878. 



F. EXCELSIOR, Linnaus. COMMON ASH. 



One of the largest of European deciduous trees, reaching in favoured sites 

 from 100 to 140 ft. in height ; bark of the trunk pale, fissured ; young wood 

 grey, smooth ; buds black. Leaves 10 to 12 ins. long ; leaflets most frequently 

 nine or eleven, sometimes less or more ; oblong lance-shaped, tapered at the 

 base, slender-pointed, toothed ; 2 to 4^- ins. long, I to i^ ins. wide ; dark green 

 and smooth above, paler beneath, and with fluffy brown down at the sides of 

 the lower part of the midrib. Main leaf-stalk usually more or less downy, the 

 wings on the upper side meeting and forming a sharp angle. The terminal 

 leaflet is stalked, the lateral ones scarcely so. Flowers produced from the 

 joints of the previous year's wood in short, dense panicles in April. Fruits 

 (commonly called " keys ") pendent in large bunches, each fruit about i^ ins. 

 long, to \ in. wide. 



Native of Europe, including Britain and the Caucasus. It is one of the 

 most valuable of all our timber trees, yielding a whitish wood of great 

 toughness and durability. Elwes considers it at the present time the most 

 economically valuable of British timber trees. For some purposes, especially 

 in coachbuilding and implement-making, it has no rival either native or 

 foreign. An isolated ash of goodly size makes a tree of great beauty and 

 dignity, forming a shapely, oval, or rounded head of branches. It likes a deep, 

 moist, loamy soil, and thrives well, on calcareous formations. In some parts of 

 the north of England, on the east side of the Plain of York for instance, it is 

 a common hedgerow tree, almost as common as the elm is in the south. In 

 such positions, especially where the adjoining fields are arable, it is not an 

 unmixed advantage, being one of the grossest of feeders. Both in nature and 

 in gardens the common ash has produced a large number of varieties. A 

 considerable number of those that have received names must be considered 

 worthless from any point of view, and the following list only includes the more 

 distinct or the more ornamental : 



Var. ANGUSTIFOLIA, Schelle. Leaves as a rule not more than g in. wide. 

 It is apt to be confused with F. oxycarpa, but is distinguished by its black 

 bud and the longer stalk of the terminal leaflet. 



Var. ASPLENIFOLIA. Leaflets only to J in. wide a monstrosity merely. 



Var. AUREA. Young shoots yellow ; older bark yellowish, ' especially 

 noticeable in winter. 



Var. AUREA PENDULA. Young shoots yellow, branches weeping and 

 forming a flat, umbrella-shaped head. 



Var. CONCAVifOLlA. Leaflets small, boat-shaped. 



Var. CRISPA (syn. atrovirens). A deformed, stunted bush with leaves 

 2 or 3 ins. long, the leaflets much curved. 



