2j6 



AUTUMN AND WINTER 



The ash can be recognised by its moderate height and 

 breadth of head, and by the characteristically blunt and 

 spare design of its lesser boughs and twigs. Compared with 

 the beech or the elm, it might almost be said to be twigless ; 

 the reason of this is that its large palmate leaves cover a 

 large air-space in proportion to their foothold on the spur, 



while the small and 

 abundant leaves of the 

 beech and elm need plenti- 

 ful twigs to support them. 

 It is a general rule that 

 the larger or more numer- 

 ous are a tree's leaves, the 

 denser will be its winter 

 pattern. The bare and 

 blunt appearance of the 

 ash is increased by the 

 smooth bark of its lesser 

 boughs, and by its thick 

 black buds. The light 

 grey - green rind shows 

 pale and glossy against 

 the winter light ; and the 

 black winter buds push 



out at the ends of the spurs. The bark of the trunk and 

 larger boughs is also paler in colour than that of most other 

 trees, but is furrowed with grooves of medium depth, more 

 closely set together as the tree grows older. This furrowing 

 of the bark begins in young trees as a series of vertical 

 cracks or tears, parting the smooth rind. The corrugations 

 thus produced are closer and shallower than those of most 

 other trees with ribbed bark. In combination with its pale 

 and glossy colour, this pattern makes an ash trunk easy to 



ASH 



