OLIVE FAMILY 



Ash, Fraxi- 

 nus quadran- 

 gulata. 



Wood. Light yellow streaked with brown, sapwood a lighter yel- 

 low ; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. gr., 0.7184; weight of cu. ft., 

 44.77 Ibs. 



Winter Buds. Terminal bud one-fourth inch long ; outer scales 

 fall when spring growth begins, inner scales enlarge and become 

 green. 



Leaves. Opposite, compound, unequally pinnate, eight to twelve 

 inches long ; leaflets five to nine, petiolate, three to five inches long, 

 one to two inches broad, ovate-oblong, unequally round- 

 ed or wedge-shaped at base, serrate, acuminate. They 

 come out of the bud conduplicate, coated with brown 

 tomentum, when full grown are thick, dark green and 

 shining above, pale, smooth or hairy beneath ; in au- 

 tumn they turn from brown and purple to yellow. 

 Petiolules short and grooved. 



Flowers. April, before the leaves. Perfect, borne in 

 loose panicles developed from buds formed in the axils Flower of Blue 

 of leaves of the previous year. 



Calyx. Reduced to a ring. 

 Corolla. Wanting. 



Stamens. Two, nearly sessile ; anthers dark purple, oblong, ob- 

 tuse, introrse, two-celled ; cells opening longitudinally. 



Pistil. Ovary superior, two-celled ; style 

 short with two, pale purple, stigmatic lobes. 

 Ovules two in each cell. 



Fruit. Samaras, borne in panicles, lin- 

 ear-oblong, one to two inches long, one-fourth 

 to one inch wide ; the broad wing surrounding 

 the long flat body, emarginate, many-rayed. 

 September, October. Cotyledons elliptical. 



The Blue Ash belongs to that group 

 of trees native to the valley of the Miss- 

 issippi. Its habitat extends from south- 

 ern Michigan to central Missouri and 

 southward to eastern Tennessee and 

 northern Alabama and through Iowa 

 and Missouri to northeastern Arkansas. 

 Some trees like the Rhododendron re- 

 fuse to grow upon limestone ; the Blue Ash prefers it. Its 

 chosen locations are rich limestone hills, but it will flourish 

 in fertile bottom lands. 



It may be distinguished among ashes by its peculiar stout, 



216 



Samaras of Blue Ash, Frax- 

 inus quadrangulata. 



