798 



The Ashes 



petals. The samaras are oblong to linear-oblong, or sometimes broader above 

 than below the middle, 2.5 to 5 cm, long, strongly striated longitudinally, the 

 usually notched wing extending all around the seed-bearing part and about twice 

 its length. 



Except in swampy ground the Black ash grows slowly. Its wood is coarse- 

 grained and tough but not strong, dark brown in color, with a specific gravity of 

 0.63. It is much used for fences, being durable in the soil, and in basket-making, 

 cabinet-work and interior carpentry. 



3. OREGON ASH Fraxlnus oregona Nuttall 



The Oregon ash inhabits the region from southern British Columbia to southern 

 California, preferring rich soil in valleys, and sometimes becomes 25 meters high, 

 with a tnmk 1.3 meters in diameter. 



The bark is gray-brown and fissured, 2 to 4 cm. thick. The young twigs and 



leaves are usually densely velvety, but often 

 lose this character as they grow older, or 

 are sometimes nearly smooth from the 

 first. The leaves have 5, 7 or rarely 9 

 leaflets, which are ovate to elliptic, sessile 

 or rarely short-stalked, 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long, 

 blunt or sharp-pointed, and are usually 

 without teeth, though the margins are 

 sometimes a little scalloped. The flower 

 clusters are borne at the leaf scars of the 

 preceding year, and the staminate and 

 pistillate flowers are usually, if not always, 

 on different trees; the staminate flower 

 has a very small 4-toothed calyx and 2 sta- 

 mens with anthers rather shorter than those 

 of the eastern Ashes; the pistillate calyx is 

 larger and its 4 teeth are incised. The samara is 5 cm. long or less, spatulate to 

 nearly linear, the blunt wing decurrent on the somewhat flattened seed-bearing 

 part to or below the middle. 



It is a tree of rapid growth and is much used for street and park planting on 

 the Pacific coast; it is hardy in the eastern and middle States. The wood has a 

 specific gravity of 0.57, is brown and rather brittle, and is employed in the manu- 

 facture of wagons, barrels and in interior carpentry. 



Fig. 724. Oregon Ash. 



