The Ashes and the Fringe Tree 



winged and shaped like darts, are borne profusely, and are quite 

 sufficient identification. No other tree bears a fruit that can 

 be confused with this one. 



There are thirty known species in the genus Fraxinus, half 

 of which inhabit North America, covering all sections except the 

 coldest. The Northern Hemisphere in the Old World is as well 

 supplied. Cuba, northern Africa and the Orient have tropical 

 species. 



It is not so clear to ordinary people as it is to the botanists 

 that the ashes belong to the olive family. If we knew all the 

 tropical members of the group we might not be surprised. The 

 relationship is established by morphological characters obvious 

 only to trained observers. 



The name ash is applied to several other kinds of trees. 

 Mountain ashes belong to the rose family. Prickly ash belongs 

 with the sumachs in the rue family. "Yellow ash" is a Tennes- 

 see name for Cladrasiis luiea, the virgilia, a member of the locust 

 family. The "hoop ash" of Vermont is the hackberry, a close 

 relative of the elms. 



^A^hite Ash {Fraxinus Americana, Linn.) — A tall, stately 

 tree, 75 to 125 feet high, with straight, columnar trunk reaching 

 6 feet in diameter, and high pyramidal or round head of erect, 

 stout branches. Bark closely furrowed into many deep, diamond- 

 shaped ridges and hollows, dark brown or grey, thick. Wood 

 reddish brown, with paler sap wood, tough, elastic, coarse, heavy, 

 hard, not durable in soil, becoming brittle with age. Buds 

 smooth, dark brown, plump, leathery, on pale twigs. Leaves, 

 opposite, pinnate, 8 to 12 inches long, of 5 to 9 leaflets, usually 7, 

 appearing late, falling early ; autumn colour purple or yellow; 

 leaflets stalked, smooth when mature, dark green above, pale, 

 often silvery beneath, oblong-lanceolate, with entire or wavy 

 margins. Flowers, May before leaves, dioecious, in panicles, at 

 first compact, later long and loose; staminate purple, later yellow, 

 stamens 3 on short filaments; pistillate purple, vase shaped, 

 with elongated style and spreading, divided stigma. Fruit, 

 September, slender, dart-like keys, i to 2 inches long, pointed, 

 wing twice the length of the round, tapering body. Preferred 

 habitat, rich, moist soil. Distribution, Newfoundland and Nova 

 Scotia to Florida; west to Ontario, Minnesota and Texas. Uses: 

 An admirable park and street tree. Wood used for agricultural 



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