TREES GROWING IN RICH SOIL. 



221 



panicles. Leaves : compound ; opposite ; odd-pinnate ; with from five to nine 

 ovate, or lance-oblong leaflets; taper-pointed at the apex and pointed or inclined 

 to be rounded at the base and extending into smooth petiolules about one quar- 

 ter of an inch in length. Dark green and lustrous above, silvery underneath 

 and pubescent, becoming glabrous at maturity excepting on the whitish under 

 ribs. Mowers : dioecious ; appearing before the leaves. Staminate flowers : 

 with three stamens which have short filaments and conspicuous anthers. Pis- 

 filiate ones : with their ovaries extended into a slender style and having a pur- 

 ple, spreading, two-lobed stigma. Samaras: hanging on slender pedicels in 

 loose clusters ; the wings lanceolate and tapering to a point. 



" Why lingereth she to clothe her heart with love, 

 Delaying as the tender ash delays 

 To clothe herself, when all the woods are green ? " 



Tennyson. 



In the Eddas, the records of Scandinavian mythology, it is 

 told that a mighty ash tree, " Ygdrasil," sprang from the body 

 of the giant Ymir who under it 

 lies prostrate. It is thought to 

 support the whole universe. One 

 of its great roots penetrates into 

 the dwelling of the gods, another 

 into the abode of the giants, and 

 the third extends into the realms 

 of darkness. Each root is wa- 

 tered by a spring. In the abode 

 of the gods it is tended by three 



Norns ; they are goddesses who 



dispense fate and represent the 



past, the present and the future. 



The spring in the giant's hall is 



Ymir's well and holds in its depths 



wit and wisdom. But the third 



spring feeds the adder, Nidhogge, 



darkness, which never ceases 



from gnawing at the tree's roots. 



erse the branches and bite off the buds. They are the four 



winds. After their creation of the universe, these gods also 



conceived the first man, Aske, to be made out of an ash tree, 



Frdxinus Amtrichna. 



Four harts ceaselessly travi 



