206 TREES 



The Green Ash 



F. Pennsylvanica, Variety lanceolata, Sarg. 



The green ash has narrower, shorter leaves than the parent 

 species and usually more sharply saw- toothed margins. 

 Instead of having pale linings, the leaflets are bright green 

 on both surfaces. This is the ash tree of the almost treeless 

 prairies from Dakota southward, where it not only lives, but 

 flourishes as well as in its native habitat, the rich soil 

 of stream banks farther east. Its range crosses the Rocky 

 Mountains and reaches the slopes of the Wasatch Moun- 

 tains in Utah. East of the Alleghanies the tree is little 

 known. It is in the West that it is the dominant ash. 

 It is one of the few important agencies which have turned 

 the "Great American Desert" into a land of shady roads 

 and comfortable, protected homesteads. 



The Blue Ash 



F. quadrangulata, Michx. 



The blue ash has four-angled twigs, often winged at the 

 corners with a thin plate of bark. The sap contains a sub- 

 stance that gives a blue dye when the inner bark is 

 macerated in water. The tree reaches one hundred and 

 twenty feet in height, above a slender trunk, and has small 

 spreading branches that terminate in stout twigs, char- 

 acteristically angled. 



The tree is occasionally cultivated in parks and gardens 

 in the Eastern states where it is a distinct addition to the 

 list of handsome shade trees. It is hardy, quick of growth, 

 and unusually free from the ills that beset trees. In the 



