THE OLIVE FAMILY. 421 



having linear-oblong anthers; the pistillate ones with persistent calyxes and 

 slender, two-lobed styles. Samaras: small, spatulate, ncHchcil at their suininits. 



It was IMichaux who said " cxccjit the oak no tree of iuiropc or of North 

 America is so j^cnerally useful as the ash ; " and wc all know iiow iiuuli 

 the limber of the larger species is scnii^ht for its superior streii.i;ih and sup- 

 pleness. The ashes are, moreover, graceful, beautiful trees which, it would 

 seem, we see now quite as frequently in cultivation as we do in the forest. 

 In the autumn the winged samaras of the pistillate individuals frolic madly 

 about in the breezes, seeking some guarded niche wherein they may lodge 

 and germinate. Never are they borne double as those of the maples. 

 The small size of this tree as compared with the white ash makes it al- 

 together less valuable to choose for timber, but for planting purposes it is a 

 great favourite, being very beautiful. That Michaux named it the green ash 

 was owing to the lustrous, vivid colouring of its foliage, of which both sur- 

 faces are nearly alike. In a wild state it follows mostly along the banks 

 of rivers, and in North Carolina is particularly abundant through the middle 

 and upper districts. 



While with the early Buddhists it was a question whether or not trees 

 had souls, and therefore, whether it was lawful to perpetrate on them any 

 injury, the ashes seem rather generally to have been regarded by the an- 

 cients as being possessed of individual spirits. The Indians believed this 

 of all the trees and thought also that the indwelling ones passed in and out 

 through their holes. Ygdrasil was the mighty ash of Scandinavian mythol- 

 ogy ; the one said to support the whole universe. 



Perhaps we should regret the edict which finally was rendered that trees 

 had no souls, for should many to-day regard them with feelings of deeper 

 sentiment, they would no doubt be protected from much unmerciful injury. 



F. Americana, white ash, so called from the ashen colour of its bark, is 

 the largest one of the genus and is generally known by its beautiful spray of 

 light green foliage, which is whitish underneath, forming thereby an attrac- 

 tive contrast in colour. It preferably inhabits a cool climate, although also 

 it occurs through our range as far southward as Florida. Along the river- 

 banks it grows rapidly; the pistillate individuals becomings particularly gay- 

 looking when their young samaras are apple-green and tinted with pink. 

 Sometimes its wood is used in preference to even that of the white oak. 



In point of distinction the white ash may be known by the strictly termi- 

 nal wing of the samara, the body of w'hich is round and elliptical in outline. 



F. Bi//nioredna, Biltmore ash, a species of the south only, and one which 

 grows in places from Alabama and Georgia to Tennessee and \'irginia, is 

 very strongly suggestive of the white ash. Its upper bark, however, is blu- 

 ish grey and covered with light-coloured excrescences, while again it may 

 be separated by the pubescence of its twigs and petioles. Along the banks 



