408 TREES AND SHftUBS. 



The buds are large and green; the bud-scales are smooth 

 and green, in crossed pairs. As a rule the end bud has 

 either died off or produced an inflorescence, so that the end 

 of a twig usually has two buds side by side. The buds are 

 somewhat sunk in the base of the leaf -stalk in whose axil it 

 stands, and each has four or five pairs of hard scales, then 

 about ten pairs of young leaves which just touch each other 

 at the edges, so that the bud is a very easy one to dissect. 

 Some of the buds contain only leaves, others (larger) both 

 leaves and an inflorescence. 



The flowers (blue, purple, red, or white, in different 

 varieties) are in large loose clusters, the main axis bearing 

 groups of stalked flowers on its branches. The calyx is 

 short and four-lobed ; the corolla has the same general shape 

 as that of a Primrose, consisting of a long trumpet-like tube 

 and four horizontal lobes. There are two stamens inserted 

 by short filaments on the inner surface of the corolla-tube. 

 The ovary is two-chambered, the style long and ending in 

 two small stigmas. Besides being fragrant, the flowers have 

 honey, produced at the bottom of the tube ; they are visited 

 by bees and butterflies. The capsule opens by two valves ; 

 the calyx is persistent.] 



396. Common Ash (Fraxinm excelsior) is a fairly tall 

 tree, often 80 feet high ; it is a native of Britain, but has 

 generally been planted. It is easily distinguished by its 

 stout grey twigs, usually turned up at the ends, its compound 

 leaves in crossed pairs, and its stumpy black buds, also by its 

 characteristic "keys." See Fig. 174. 



Note that the base of each leaf runs down on the stem as 

 a projecting cushion, so that the stem is flattened below each 

 pair of leaves ; this gives the twigs a knotted appearance 

 when the leaves have fallen. The leaves have about five 

 pairs of side leaflets and an end leaflet ; the leaflets are 

 stalkless, narrow, pointed, and slightly toothed. 



The buds have 4 to 6 pairs of scales, of which only the 

 outermost ones (2 to 4 scales) are visible on the outside ; 

 these outer scales are covered with black hairs. When the 

 bud opens, one generally sees transitions between the bud- 

 scales and the foliage- leaves. The large end buds grow into 



