TREES GROWING NEAR WATER. 95 



Leaf -Buds : bluish black. Leaves: twelve to sixteen inches long ; compound; 

 opposite; odd-pinnate; having grooved stalks with from seven to eleven 

 broadly lanceolate, sessile leaflets, taper-pointed at the apex, and narrowed or 

 rounded at the base ; sharply and irregularly serrate ; deep green and glabrous 

 on the upper side; paler below and slightly pubescent along the whitish ribs. 

 Flowers : dioecious ; growing in long panicles and appearing before the leaves. 

 Samaras ; oblong ; blunt at both ends ; winged all around. 



As early as March we may begin to look about for the blue- 

 black buds of the black ash. They seem not to mind about en- 

 countering the cold, and the tree is found farther northward 

 than any other one of the American ashes. In the swamps it 

 grows at times so prolifically as almost to fill in the wet ground. 

 When taken away and transplanted it is short-lived. As soon 

 as the first frost touches the leaves, or even earlier in the 

 autumn, they turn a rusty brown and begin to fall. When they 

 are crushed the odour they emit is similar to that of the elder. 



The light brownish wood has a beautiful grain and is heavy 

 although not very strong. It is used in cabinet work and ex- 

 tensively for the making of barrel hoops. The Indians know 

 well the black ash and seek the pliable young saplings to use 

 in constructing their baskets. 



RED ASH. {Plate XLII.) 

 Frdxinus Pennsylvdnica. 



Bark: brownish grey; slightly furrowed vertically and becoming smooth on 

 the branches. Young shoots and leaf-stalks conspicuous for their pubescent, 

 rusty down. Leaves: ten to twelve inches long; compound; opposite; odd- 

 pinnate; with grooved, pubescent stalks and from five to nine long ovate or 

 lanceolate leaflets, which have downy petiolules hardly one quarter of an inch 

 long. Apex, taper-pointed ; base, pointed. Edge: entire or sparingly serrate 

 towards the apex. Light green above, paler on the under side and becoming 

 reddish. When unfolding, covered with a white tomentum. Flowers ; dioe- 

 cious ; growing in compact panicles ; without petals. Samaras : from one to 

 two and a half inches long ; broadly linear or oblanceolate, the wing rounded 

 or bluntly tipped at the apex. They remain on the branches over the winter. 



The red ash is so called because the inner surface of the 

 outer bark of the branches is a light red, and the down that 



