CHAP. LXXV. 



OLEA V CE/K. FKA'XINUS. 



1235 



1058 



1057 



the upper surface, and coated with red 

 down on the main ribs beneath. When 

 bruised, they emit an odour like that of 

 the- leaves of the elder. The samaras re- 

 semble those of the blue ash (F. quadran- 

 gulata), and are nearly as broad at the 

 base as at the summit. The black ash is 

 easily distinguished from 

 the white ash by its bark, 

 which is of a duller hue, 

 less deeply furrowed, and 

 has the layers of the epi- 

 dermis applied in broad 

 sheets. The tree is 

 found in the northern 

 section of the United 

 States, and in the pro- 

 vinces of New Bruns- 

 wick and Nova Scotia, 

 in great abundance, in the 

 forests. It is generally 

 found on a moist soil, and usually accompanied by the red maple (A^cer 

 rubrum), the yellow birch (2?etula lutea), the black spruce (^l v bies nigra), 

 and the arbor vitas (Thuja occidentals). In the middle states of the Union, 

 this tree associates with the ^4 v cer rubrum and F. pubescens (No. 10. p. 1233.). 

 Its timber is used for some of the purposes of the white ash ; compared with 

 which, its wood is tougher and more elastic, but less durable when exposed to 

 the vicissitudes of dryness and moisture. In the district of Maine, it is pre- 

 ferred to the white ash for hoops ; and, as the wood separates readily into thin 

 narrow strips, it is used for making chair bottoms, and corn-riddles ; as the 

 common ash is in Britain, and more particularly in Scotland. The black ash 

 is liable to be disfigured with knobs in the trunk, which are sometimes de- 

 tached to make bowls, and which, when polished, exhibit curious undulations 

 of fibre. This sort, like most of the other kinds of ash, is also very prolific 

 in potash. Plants, in the London nurseries, are Is. 6d. each, and seeds 4s. 

 per quart. 



12. F. (A.) QUADRANGULA^TA Michx. The quadrangular-branched Ash. 



Identification. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 2. p. 255., and N. Amer. Syl., 3. p. 73. ; Willd. Sp., 4. p. 1104. ; 



Vahl Enum., 1. p. 50. ; Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. p. 8. ; Don's Mill., 4. p. 55. 

 Synonymts. F. tetragbna Cels ex Dum. Cours. ; F. quadrangularis Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. ; blue Ash, 



Amer. 

 Engravings. Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. 1. 123. ; and our figs. 1959, 1060. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaflets almost sessile, elliptic-lanceolate, serrated, downy 

 beneath. Samara blunt at both ends. Branches quadrangular. (Don's Mill., 

 iv. p. 55.) A tree, from 63 ft. to 70 ft. high ; a native of Ohio, Kentucky, 

 and Tennessee. It was introduced in 1823, and flowers in May. 



Variety. 



F. (a.) q.2 nervdsa Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836, has the leaves with conspicuous 

 nerves. 



Description, $c. The blue ash, in the United States, Michaux observes, 

 " frequently exceeds 60 ft. or 70ft. in height, and 18 in. or 20 in. in diameter. 

 Its leaves are from 12 in. to 18 in. long, and are composed of 2, 3, or 4 pairs 

 of leaflets, with an odd one. The leaflets are large, smooth, oval-acuminate, 

 distinctly toothed, and supported by short petiolules. The young shoots to 

 which the leaves are attached are distinguished by 4 opposite membranes, 3 

 or 4 lines broad, and of a greenish colour, extending through their whole 

 length. This character disappears in the third or fourth year, leaving only the 

 traces of its existence. The seeds are flat from one extremity to the other, 

 and a little narrowed towards the base." The blue ash is found only in 



4 M 3 



