572 FRAXINUS 



F. ORNUS, Linnceus. MANNA Asn 



(Ornus europaca, Per soon.'] 



A deciduous, very leafy tree, from 50 to 65 ft. high, forming a dense 

 rounded head of branches ; buds rough, grey ; young shoots ordinarily without 

 down. Leaves 5 or 8 ins. long, with five to nine leaflets which are ovate or 

 oblong (the terminal one obovate), 2 to 4 ins. long, f to if ins. wide ; more or 

 less tapered at the base, abruptly pointed at the apex, shallowly round-toothed ; 

 dull green and smooth above ; the base of the midrib beneath and the stalk 

 downy. Main-stalk grooved above, furnished with brownish down where the 

 leaflets are attached. Flowers whitish, very abundantly produced in May in 

 terminal and axillary panicles 3 or 4 ins. long, along with the leaves of the 

 new shoots ; petals linear, J in long. Fruit about I in. long. 



Var. LATIFOLIA, Alton. Leaves broader than those of the type and 

 roundish oval in outline. 



Var. VARIEGATA. Leaves speckled with yellow ; a form to be avoided. 



Native of S. Europe and Asia Minor ; cultivated since early in the 

 eighteenth century, if not before ; now one of the best known of exotic trees. 

 It is a handsome tree with very luxuriant leafage, and decidedly ornamental in 

 flower, although the blossom has a faint, not agreeable odour. Manna sugar is 

 obtained from the stems by incision. 



F. PARVIFOLIA, Lamarck. 



(F. oxycarpa var. parvifolia, Boissier.} 



A small tree with green, smooth young shoots and black -buds. Leaves 5 

 to 8 ins. long, with seven to thirteen stalkless leaflets, which are oval or ovate, 

 i to 2 ins. long, ^ to I in. wide ; tapered at both ends, sharply toothed except 

 at the base ; dull green and smooth above, downy along the midrib beneath. 

 Main leaf-stalk whitish beneath, hairy and winged on the upper side, the two 

 wings being closed except at the base and where the leaflets are attached. 



Native of S. Europe and Asia Minor ; introduced, according to Loudon, in 

 1822. Some authorities regard this ash as a variety of F. oxycarpa (see under 

 F. angustifolia), but it differs so markedly in the shape and length of the 

 leaflets and by their being so much more closely set on the main-stalk, and is, 

 moreover, so much better known in gardens under the above name, that it 

 seems better to retain it. At the same time the distinctions between 

 angustifolia, oxycarpa, ar.d parvifolia do not appear capable of very clear 

 definition. 



Var. NANA. A dwarf form with smaller leaves averaging I in. long, ^ to f 

 in. wide, with a patch of down near the base. A healthy bush at Kew thirty 

 years old is only 5 ft. high. 



F. PENNSYLVANIA, Marshall. RED ASH. 



(F. pubescens, Lamarck.") 



A tree 40 to 60 ft., sometimes more, high ; young shoots clothed with a 

 dense pale down. Leaves up to I ft. long ; leaflets seven or nine, oblong- 

 lanceolate or narrowly oval, 3 to 6 ins. long, i to 2 ins. wide, broadly tapered 

 at the base, long and slenderly pointed, rather obscurely^ toothed, or entire, 

 especially at the lower half; dull green on both surfaces' and nearly or quite 

 smooth above, except along the sunken midrib which sometimes is downy ; 

 covered beneath with a pale down. The leaflets, especially the lower ones, 



