FRAXINUS 569 



of pretty even size, lanceolate, tapered at the base, sharply and slenderly 

 toothed, margins hairy ; if to 2-|- ins.long, j to -i in. wide ; dull green on both 

 surfaces. Common stalk pale beneath, shallowly grooved above. The entire 

 leaf is 6 to 10 ins. long, the terminal leaflet usually stalked, the others nearly 

 or quite stalkless. 



A species of unknown origin first noticed in cultivation in several parts of 

 Germany. It has flowered there, but not in this country, and belongs to the 

 common ash group. When in leaf it is very distinct among the ashes with nine 

 to thirteen leaflets, in the dense down which covers all the younger parts. 

 Introduced from S path's nursery, Berlin, in 1909, and thriving well in 

 cultivation. 



F. LANCEOLATA, Borkhausen. GREEN ASH. 

 (F. viridis, Michaux.) 



Nearly allied to F. pennsylvanica, the red ash, of which some authorities 

 regard it as a variety, this species is most readily distinguished by its bright 

 green, smooth young shoots, and by its narrower, slightly stalked, more sharply 

 and conspicuously toothed leaflets, which are 3 to 6 ins. long, lance-shaped, 

 green on both surfaces, smooth above except along the midrib, and downy at 

 the sides of the midrib beneath ; main-stalk only slightly grooved. It is a tree 

 rarely more than 60 ft. high, according to Sargent, and is most abundant in 

 the south Central United States. It has long been cultivated in Europe, and 

 is fairly common in gardens, but some forms approach F. pennsylvanica. 



Var. ALBO-MARGINATIS. This is a variegated form with white margins to 

 the leaflets. Usually found in gardens as a variety of americana (or "alba"), 

 it is, like typical lanceolata, distinguished by the leaves being pale bright green 

 (not whitish) beneath, by their much shorter stalks, and the distinct groove 

 along the main-stalk. The young branchlet, however, is more or less downy, 

 and thus shows some affinity with pennsylvanica, 



F. LONGICUSPIS, Siebold. JAPANESE FLOWERING ASH. 



A slender tree, 20 to 30, sometimes 50 ft. high in Japan, belonging to the 

 Ornus or "flowering" group; young shoots smooth, grey. Leaves ordinarily 

 4 to 6 ins. long ; leaflets usually five (rarely seven), which are i^ to 4 ins', 

 long, | to \\ ins. wide, ovate to obovate, tapered at the base, the apex abruptly 

 contracted into a slender point, toothed, smooth above, downy only at the 

 sides of the midrib near the base beneath. The terminal leaflet,' which is the 

 largest, has a stalk \ to f in. long, the uppermost pair are stalkless, the lower 

 pair or pairs shortly stalked ; common stalk grooved on the upper side. 

 Flowers white, in terminal and axillary panicles 3 to 5 ins. long, produced in 

 June. Introduced from Japan in 1894, but rare in cultivation. It is the 

 Japanese representative of F. Ornus, differing most obviously in the few leaflets. 

 According to Sargent, it changes in autumn to a conspicuous purple colour. 



F. MANDSHURICA, Ruprecht. MANCHURIAN ASH 



A fine tree, often 100 high ; young shoots smooth, greyish. Leaves 8 to 

 15 ins. long ; leaflets stalkless, or nearly so, usually nine or eleven, some- 

 times seven or thirteen ; oval or oblong-lanceolate, 2 to 4^ ins. long, I to 2 

 ins. wide ; tapered to the base, slender-pointed, sharply (occasionally doubly) 

 toothed ; dull green and with scattered bristles above, paler beneath, and 

 more conspicuously bristly, especially on the midrib and veins. Main leaf- 

 stalk winged above, the two wings forming a deep groove with tufts of brown 

 down where the leaflets join. 



Native of Japan and the adjacent parts of the Asiatic mainland ; introduced 

 to Kew from St Petersburg in 1882. It is one of the greatest failures among 



