268 



Shoots glabrous, or practically so 3 F. lanceolata. 



Shoots velvety pubescent, at least when young. 



Calyx of fruit less than 3 mm. long; body of samara just 

 below the wing less than 3 mm. wide, rarely 4 mm. 

 wide, usually 1.5-2.5 mm. wide; samaras 3-4.5 cm. 



long, 4 F. pennsylvanica. 



Calyx of fruit more than 3 mm. long, generally 4-5 mm. 

 long; body of samara just below the wing more than 

 3 mm. wic.e, usually 4-5 mm. wide; samaras gen- 

 erally 4-6 cm. long 5 F. profunda. 



Bark of mature trees scaly or flaky; fruit winged to the base. 



Twigs usually 4 angled; leaflets on very short stalks 6 F. quadraDgulata. 



Twigs round ; leaflets sessile 7 F. nigra. 



1. Fraxinus americana Linnaeus. WHITE ASH. GRAY ASH. Plate 

 124. Large trees with deeply furrowed bark; twigs smooth, greenish 

 gray and often covered with a bloom; leaves generally 2-3.5 dm. long, 

 rachis smooth; leaflets 5-9, usually 7, generally 5-14 cm. long, on stalks 

 generally 0.3-1 cm. long, the termi nalone on a stalk 2-4 times as long, 

 leaflets ovate to narrow-oblong, narrowed, rounded or oblique at 

 base, short or long acuminate at apex, sometimes merely acute, margins 

 entire or irregularly serrate, usually not serrated to the base, teeth 

 short, dark green and smooth above, glaucous beneath, sometimes al- 

 most green beneath about Lake Michigan and in the northern tier of 

 counties, usually pubescent beneath along the midrib and along the 

 veins, sometimes glabrous; calyx persistent on the fruit, about 1 mm. 

 long; fruit ripens in September and October, linear, 3-4.5 cm. long, 

 variable in size and shape, body of samara cylindrical, somewhat 

 narrower than the wing and usually %-% tne length of the samara, 

 each face of the body usually striated longitudinally with about 8 faint 

 lines; wing terminal, generally about 0.5 cm. wide, pointed or notched 

 at apex. 



Distribution. Nova Scotia to Minnesota and south to the Gulf. 

 Frequent to common in all parts of Indiana. It is the most abundant in 

 the northern two-thirds of the State, where it is associated principally 

 with beech, sugar maple, linn, slippery elm and red oak. In the 

 hilly part of the State it is found principally near water courses and in 

 ravines, and rarely on the white and black oak ridges. It is rarely 

 found in the low "flats" of the southeast part of the State, or in the 

 shingle oak bottoms along the Patoka River. 



Remarks. Tha foliage of the white ash is quite variable in the 

 texture of the leaflets. Leaflets on some trees are quite thin while those 

 of other trees are thick and leathery, and no doubt would be classed by 

 Sargent as variety subcoriacea 1 . 



iBot. Gaz. Vol. 67:241-242:1919. 



