Water Ash 



80 1 



Florida, and also in Cuba, if the very similar 

 Fraxinus cubensis of Grisebach proves to be 

 the same species, and perhaps also in Louisiana. 



The bark is gray and scaly, the branchlets 

 light gray, round and smooth. The 5 or 7 

 ovate to oblong- lanceolate leaflets are all 

 stalked, somewhat toothed or entire- margined, 

 and usually rather long-pointed. The flowers 

 are dioecious. The samaras are spatulate, the 

 rather firm wing rounded or notched at the 

 top, about twice as long as the seed-bearing 

 part and decurrent along it as a narrow mar- 

 gin to its base or just above. 



The wood is light, weak, and of no com- 

 mercial value. The tree has been redescribed 

 and illustrated by Professor Sargent as Fraxi- 

 nus ftoridana. 



Fig. 728. Southern Water Ash. 



8. WATER ASH Fraxinus caroliniana INIiller 



The Water ash grows in lagoons and swamps from southeastern Virginia to 

 Florida in the Atlantic coastal plain, and extends westward through the Gulf 

 States to Texas and southern Arkansas. It is seldom more than 12 meters high 

 and the trunk not more than 3 dm. thick. 



The bark is light gray, and only 3 or 4 mm. in thickness, peeling off in scales. 



The young twigs are round, and sHghtly 

 reddish hair}', but they early become 

 smooth and gray. The leaves are some- 

 what hairy when they first unfold, but be- 

 come nearly or quite smooth, or sometimes 

 remain hairy on the under side; they have 

 5, 7 or rarely 9, oblong, ovate or oblong- 

 lanceolate leaflets, which are cither toothed 

 or entire- margined, pointed, or rather 

 blunt, distinctly stalked and 5 to 15 cm. 

 long. The clusters of flowers appear early 

 in the spring at the leaf scars of the pre- 

 vious year; the staminate and pistillate 

 flowers are borne on different trees, the 

 former with a very minute calyx, the latter 

 with a rather large and shaiply 4-loothcd 

 calyx. The samaras arc elliptic to ovate 

 a er s . ^^ obovatc, usually sharp-pointed, 3.5 to 



5 cm. long, 2 cm. wide or less, the large veined wing extending all around the 



