284 TREES OF MINNESOTA. 



fields is usually superior in toughness to the first growth or 

 large trees. The inner bark of the White Ash has some 

 medicinal properties and is used in homeopathic practice, 



Fraxinus pennsylvanica. ( F. pubescens. ) Bed Ash. 



Leaflets oblong-lanceolate to ovate, mostly coarsely ser- 

 rate, velvety pubescent on their lower surface like the young 

 shoots. Flowers dioecious; calyx present and persistent in 

 the fruit. This tree is easily distinguished in the eastern 

 states but in this section it merges into the Green Ash and is 

 often difficult to distinguish from it. 



Distribution. It has about the same range as the Green 

 Ash but is less common west of the Mississippi River. 



Propagation. See genus. 



Properties of wood. Heavy, hard, rather strong and brit- 

 tle and coarse grained; light brown with thick lighter colored 

 sapwood streaked with yellow. Specific gravity 0.6215; 

 weight of a cubic foot 38.96 pounds. 



Uses. In this section the Red Ash is used for planting 

 the same as Green Ash. The wood is often substituted for 

 that of the White Ash, which is much more valuable. 



Fraxinus lanceolata. ( F. veridis. ) Green Ash. 



The Green Ash closely resembles the Red Ash, from which 

 it is distinguished in extreme forms by its glabrous leaves 

 and branchlets and by its rather narrower and shorter, and 

 usually more serrate leaves, which are lustrous and bright 

 green on both surfaces. However, in western Minnesota and 

 the Dakotas these two species run together and are of ten indis- 

 tinguishable. The flowers and fruit of the two species are 

 alike although many forms occur on each. Professor Sargent 

 regards the Green Ash as a variety of the Red Ash. 



"The bark on the preceding year's growth of the Green 

 Ash is noticebly lighter colored than that of the White Ash, 

 and shows many more rather lighter spots or warts. The 

 leaflets are usually strongly serrate. The leaves are bright 

 dark green in color although somewhat lighter below. The 

 young growth of new wood is usually smooth and glabrous, 

 while the mid veins of the leaves frequently show some pub- 

 escence on the lower side." (L. R. Moyer.) 



