OLIVE FAMILY 



Flowers. — May, before the leaves; Dioecious, borne in lengthened 

 panicles near the end of the branches, in axils of last year's leaves. 

 Pedicels smooth ; bracts varying in size and form. 



Calyx. — Campanulate ; in staminate flower slightly 

 four-lobed ; in pistillate flower deeply lobed. 



Corolla. — Wanting. 



Stamens. — Two, rarely three ; filaments, short ; an- 

 thers large, oblong, reddish purple. 



Pistil. — Ovary superior, two-celled, oval, contracted 

 into a long slender style, with two spreading dark pur- 

 ple stigmatic lobes. 



Fruit. — Samaras, borne in crowded drooping pan- 

 icles six to eight inches long, these hang upon the leafless 

 branches until midwinter. The samaras vary in length 

 from one to two inches. Body terete, pointed, margin- 

 less below, abruptly dilated into a lanceolate or linear 

 wing, acute or emarginate at apex. August, Septem- 

 ber. Cotyledons elliptical. 



A Staminate 

 and a Pis- 

 tillate Flow- 

 er of White 

 Ash, Frax- 

 inus amcri- 

 cana ; en- 

 larged. 



The White Ash is the 



most beautiful of all the 



American species. Its 



common name refers to 



the pale sometimes silvery 



under surface of the leaf 



and its specific name az/ier- 

 icana fully distinguishes it as the best 

 of its type. Its fibrous roots enable 

 it to flourish in a soil, rich but shal- 

 low, and oftentimes it may be seen 

 clinging to rocks where with diffi- 

 culty it can obtain a foothold. In 

 the eastern and middle states it has 

 proved itself an admirable city tree, 

 but it has not been successfully 

 planted in the prairie regions of the 

 west, being unable to withstand the 

 severe droughts to which they are 

 subject. 



In appearance the young tree is singularly graceful. The 

 slender grayish trunk, the easy sweep of its branches, the 



208 



Samaras of White Ash, Fraxinus 

 ■ americana. 



