DECIDUOUS ORNAMENTAL TREES. 115 



ern streams, the ash assumes peculiar beauty in autumn, when 

 it can often be distinguished from the surrounding trees 

 for four or five miles, by the peculiar and beautiful deep 

 brownish-purple of its fine mass of foliage. This colour, 

 though not lively, is so full and rich as to produce the most 

 pleasing harmony with the bright yellows and reds of the 

 other deciduous trees, and the deep green of the pines and 

 cedars. 



The ash, unlike the elm, starts into vegetation late in the 

 spring, which is an objection to planting it in the immediate 

 vicinity of the house. In winter the long grayish-white, or 

 ash-coloured branches, are pleasing in tint, compared with 

 those of other deciduous trees. 



The White ash. [Fraxiniis Americana.) This species, 

 according to Michaux, is common to the colder parts of the 

 Union, and is most abundant north of the Hudson. It owes 

 its name to the light colour of the bark, which on large stocks 

 is deeply furrowed, and divided into squares of one to three 

 inches in diameter. The trunk is perfectly straight, and in 

 close woods is often undivided to the height of more than 40 

 feet. The leaves are composed of three or four pairs of leaf- 

 lets, terminated by an odd one ; the whole twelve or fourteen 

 inches long. Early in spring they are covered with a light 

 down, which disappears as summer advances, when they 

 become quite smooth, of a light green colour above, and whi- 

 tish beneath. The foliage, as well as the timber of our White 

 ash, is finer than that of the common European ash, and the 

 tree is much prized in France and Germany. 



The Black ash, [F. sambncifolia,) sometimes called the 

 Water ash, requires a moist soil to thrive well, and is seen in 

 the greatest perfection on the borders of swamps. Its buds 

 are of a deep blue ; the young shoots of a bright green, sprink- 

 led with dots of the same colour, which disappear as the sea- 

 son advances. It may readily be distinguishedfrom the White 



