THE ASHES 207 



forests it reaches its best estate on the limestone hills of 

 the Big Smoky Mountains Its wood ranks with the best 

 white ash and exceeds it in one particular; it is the most 

 durable ash wood when exposed alternately to wet and 

 dry conditions. It is used for vehicles, for flooring and 

 for handles of tools especially pitchforks. 



The Oregon Ash 



F. Oregona, Nutt. 



The Oregon ash follows the coast south from Puget 

 Sound to San Francisco Bay, and from the western foothills 

 of the Sierra Nevada to those of the mountains of southern 

 California. In southwestern Oregon the tree reaches the 

 height of eighty feet, with a trunk three to four feet in di- 

 ameter. The stout branches form a broad crown where 

 there is room, and the luxuriant foliage is wonderfully light 

 in color, pale green above, with silvery pubescent leaf- 

 linings. Of the five to seven leaflets, all are sessile or 

 short-stalked, except the terminal one, which has a 

 stem an inch long. All are oval and abruptly pointed, 

 thick and firm in texture, turning yellow or russet brown in 

 autumn. The lumber is counted equal to white ash and is 

 one of the most valuable of deciduous timber trees in the 

 western coast states. 



A number of little ash trees, distinct in species from those 

 described already, are native to limited sections of the 

 country. All have the family traits by wliich they are 

 readily recognized, if seed form, leaf form, and leaf arrange- 

 ment are kept in mind. In the corner where Colorado, 

 Nevada, and Utah meet, is an ash with its leaf reduced to a 

 single leaflet, but the seeds are profusely borne to declare 



