INDIGENOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. 13 



black ash, F. sambucifolia. 



" Occasionally plentiful throughout the state, excepting, perhaps, south- 

 westward." Upham. "Its northwestern limit reaches the southern part 

 of Lake Winnipeg, and thence extends southward along the east side of 

 the Red River." Bell. "Will develop magnificently on ground too wet for 

 most any other timber, except it may be tamarac." L. B. Hodges. Buds of a 

 deep blue; young shoots a bright green in early spring. No calyx in the fertile 

 flowers. Leaves have peculiar appendages on each side of their base, 

 when first unfolding, but dropping off in a few weeks. In their full estate, 

 they are twelve to fifteen inches long, "composed of three or four pairs of 

 leaflets with an odd one." When bruised they emit an odor like the 

 Elder. Seeds are flat, bunched and winged. Ripen in the fall. Bark a 

 duller hue than that of the White Ash, and less deeply furrowed. Ripe 

 wood of a fine texture and brown complexion; tougher and more elastic 

 than the White Ash, but less durable. Growing more and more popular 

 for strong structures and furniture. More than any other species it devel- 

 ops gnarls attached to the body of the tree. These excrescenses have sin- 

 gular undulations, looking sometimes like clusters of little vines arranged 

 in bowers. The wood of such is very beautiful when polished and var- 

 nished. The ashes of this tree are rich in potash. Take it all in all it is 

 deserving of special attention. 



blue ash, F. quadrangulata. 



Rather a rare tree in our state, is found on the upper Mississippi, at 

 Rainy Lake and other northern localities favorable to its growth, and there 

 often becomes one of the largest trees of the forest. The leaves are from 

 twelve to fifteen inches long. "Square branchlets. * * Ovate veiny 

 leaflets on short stalks, and narrowly oblong fruits." Its wood is the most 

 highly esteemed of all the ash family, and most extensively used where 

 toughness and beauty are required. A blue color, it is said, is extracted 

 from its inner bark; and it is claimed that the milk of its boiled leaves is 

 an unfailing remedy for the bite of the rattlesnake. 



GREEN ASH, F. viHdiS. 



The most frequent of all our ashes. Has the properties of the Red Ash, 

 but is a smoother and smaller tree. Leaves vary from six to fifteen inches 

 long. "The seeds of the green ash are frequently mistaken for those of 

 the white ash, and sold as such by dealers. They can be readily distin- 

 guished apart, however. The seed of the white ash has a long wing, and 

 the seed pod itself is elongated. The green ash seed has a much shorter 

 wing and the seed pod is not more than half as long as that of the white 

 asa " Hodges. Ripens in the fall. Though not a large tree, it will double 

 its natural size by cultivation. "A true pioneer of the forests," says Dr. 

 Warner, of Ohio, "soon to be planted on the plains, it spreads naturally 

 into the native grass, and struggles through the prairie herbage that would 

 destroy other trees." 



