THE GEKESEE FAEMER. 



253 



EtJEOPEAN FLOWBRING ASH, 



THE EUKOPEAN FLOWERING ASH. 



In the Genesee Farmer for 1852, we called the 

 tention of our readers to this beautiful tree, 

 nee then it has been considerably diffused 

 ronghout the country; but it is still too little 

 lown. There are some fine specimens growing 

 sar this city, and we have now the pleasure of 

 esenting an excellent engraving of the tree and 

 )wer. It resembles the common ash in its gen- 

 al features. The flowers appear about the first 

 ■ June, in clusters at the ends of the branches, 

 aese clusters are shorter than the leaves which 

 rround them ; and when the tree is in full bloom, 



looks as though a bouquet of white, delicate 

 3wers, tastefully encircled by foliage, was placed 

 1 the end of every branch. 



This tree {Ornus Europcea) is a native of South- 

 n Europe. In Calabria and Sicily the sap, which 

 :udes from it in considerable abundance, is col- 

 cted, and when concrete is mild and mucilaginous, 

 ad forms an article of commerce under the name 



manna. In favorable situations the manna runs 

 »ontaneously, but only during the greatest heats of 

 immer. It begins to ooze out about mid-day, in 

 le form of a clear liquid, which soon thickens, and 



continues to appear till the oool of the evening 

 when it begins to thicken into granules, which are 

 scraped off the following morning. When the 

 night has been damp or rainy, the manna does not 

 harden, but runs to the ground and is lost. The 

 manna obtained spontaneously is as pure and white 

 as the finest sugar. About the end of July, when 

 the liquid ceases to flow of itself, incisions are 

 made through the bark and soft wood, and into 

 these incisions slender pieces of straw or twigs are 

 inserted, on which the manna runs, and, coating 

 them over, hardens on them. This is the common 

 manna of the drug stores. It ])as a peculiar odor 

 and a sweetish taste, accompanied with a slight 

 degree of bitterness. It is considered aperient, 

 and was formerly much used in medicine, but is 

 now chiefly used to disguise other drugs in admin- 

 istering them to children. This manna must not 

 be confounded with the manna of scripture, which 

 is obtained from the Alhagi maurorum^ and is 

 now known in the east as the Persian or Syrian 

 manna ; or with the Arabian manna, which is ob- 

 tained from the tamarisk. A similar substance is 

 also obtained in the south of France from the larch. 

 The rhododendron, the walnut, and the beech, also 



