FRAXINUS FREMONTIA 575 



quite smooth beneath, and narrower. Leaflets usually solitary, sometimes in 

 twos or threes, in which case the terminal one is always much larger than the 

 lateral ones ; lanceolate, 2 to 5 ins. long, f to ii ins. wide ; tapered towards 

 both ends, the margins set with coarse, sharp, outstanding teeth ; dark lustrous 

 green above, quite smooth on both surfaces. Lateral leaflets, when present, 

 I to 2* ins. long, j to f in. wide. Stalk i to 2.\ ins. long. Henry considers 

 this a monophyllous variety of angustifolia. It has been in cultivation at Kew 

 under other names for forty years at least, and makes a distinct and curious as 

 well as an attractive tree. 



F. VELUTINA, Torrey. ARIZONA ASH 



(F. pistaciae folia, Torrey?) 



A tree 30 to 40 ft. high, with a slender trunk ; young shoots slender, and, 

 like the leaf-stalks and leaflets, densely clothed with a velvety down. Leaves 

 4 to 6 ins. long, with five or seven leaflets which are lanceolate or narrowly oval, 

 tapered at the base, long-pointed, i^ to 2^ ins. long, \ to f in. wide (terminal 

 one often larger, obovate, up to 3^ ins. long), the upper part bluntly and 

 unevenly toothed, edged with fine hairs ; dull greyish green. Common stalk 

 with an open groove on the upper side -, leaflets usually stalkless, the basal pair 

 and terminal one occasionally stalked. Flowers and fruit not seen. 



Native of S.W. United States ; introduced in 1891 to Kew, where it makes 

 a neat, elegant, very leafy tree, distinct because of the grey down with which 

 all the young parts are covered, combined with stalkless leaflets. F. holotricha 

 and F. oregona have the same combination of characters, but in the former the 

 leaflets are up to thirteen in number, and in oregona they are much larger. 



FREMOXTIA CALIFORNICA, Torrey. STERCULIACE^E. 



(Bot. Mag., t. 5991.) 



A deciduous or half-evergreen, small tree, 15 to 30 ft. high, with soft 

 and very downy twigs. Leaves alternate, 2 to 4 ins. long, \\ to 3 ins. 

 wide ; variable in outline, with usually three to seven lobes or large teeth, 

 but sometimes almost entire; upper surface dull green, specked with 

 star-shaped hairs when young, lower surface felted with brown-white, 

 similar hairs. Flowers 2 to 2\ ins. across, produced singly on short 

 stalks. There are no petals, the bright golden calyx being the conspicuous 

 part of the flower; it is at first widely cup-shaped, has five roundish 

 divisions, and is densely downy outside and very hairy in the centre 

 inside. Stamens united in a short column, dividing at the top into five 

 radiating arms | in. long. Ovary conical, with a slender style. 



Discovered in California by Col. Fremont, after whom it is named, in 

 1846; this plant first flowered in England, at Chiswick, in 1854. It was 

 again introduced from the Sierra Nevada by William Lobb in 1853, since 

 when it has existed in numerous gardens in the milder parts of the 

 kingdom. It is not hardy in the open at Kew, but a fine plant 10 ft. 

 high grew in one of the bays outside the Temperate House, and flowered 

 finely for several years. It was not trained, and took the form of a small 

 tree. Although it survived the winter of 1908-9, and blossomed well the 

 summer following, it has since died. The tree, in fact, is not long-lived, 

 and although olants occasionally survive twenty or twenty-five years, 



