422 THE OLIVE FAMILY. 



of the French-Broad and Swannanoa rivers it grows very gracefully and is 

 quite tall. Here it was first noticed with regard to its specific differences by 

 Mr. Beadle, who then bestowed on it its present name. 



F. Carolmiana, water ash, also a beautiful although small tree of deep 

 river-swamps produces ovate, obovate-lanceolate, or elliptical leaves, vividly 

 green on their upper surfaces. Its samaras, the bodies of which are flat, are 

 among the prettiest of the genus, oblong-obovate and having their broad 

 wings tinted with varying shades of pink and purple. As early in the season 

 as March it blooms, and it extends from Texas, Florida and Mississippi to 

 the Carolinas and southern Virginia. In fact, Michaux, the younger, called 

 it Carolina ash because in those states he came across it so frequently. 



F. profunda is another ash which grows through southern swamps. Its 

 large leaves are lanceolate-ovate and the samaras about two and a quarter 

 inches long. At their apices they are rounded, or squared, while they 

 gradually taper towards the bases. 



COMMON FRINGE TREE. OLD MAN'S BEARD. 

 Chiondiithus Vin^ifii'ca. 



Flowers: showy; growing in loose, drooping panicles. Calyx: small, four- 

 lobed. Corolla : with four, slender petals, three quarters of an inch long and but 

 slightly united at the base. Stamens : two, rarely three, very short. Pistil: one. 

 Fruit : bluish purple ; oval ; glaucous and containing one seed. Lea7'es : large ; 

 simple, petioled ; ovate, or oblong-obovate with pointed, or rarely rounded apices 

 and being mostly narrowed at the base. Bark: brown, or ashen and divided into 

 thin scales. A small tree with narrow, oblong crown at most thirty-five feet 

 high, or a shrub. 



Sometimes when exploring new fields for flowers there is a shade of dis- 

 appointment hovering over the seeker. He feels aggrieved at seeing so 

 many common plants — those that in his own home he has known from child- 

 hood. But when he goes to a region where the fringe tree is a native he 

 forgets the presence of more homely bloomers and regrets that it also did 

 not grow close to his own dooryard. 



Nowhere does it appear more wonderfully beautiful than in the high moun- 

 tains of the Alleghanies. Here when the azaleas and rhododendrons are in 

 bloom, its long misty petals hang over many a bank like a bright-coloured 

 mist. There is nothing bold or striking about them, still they fairly fringe 

 the mountains with a soft, poetic bloom. The leaves then have not fully 

 unfolded ; but later in the season they appear, vividly green and symmetri- 

 cal. Although often seen growing well in grounds and parks, it has never the 

 same charm as when in its own wild homes. At the limit of its southern 

 range, Florida, the people gather its bark to prepare a drink for curing the 

 fever called broken bones. 



