OLIVE FAMILY 



A Staminate and a Pis- 

 tillate Flower of 

 Black Ash, Fraxiniis 

 nigra : enlarged. 



Stamens. — Two, anthers large, oblong, dark purple, attached to 

 the back of short filaments. 



Pistil. — Ovary superior, two-celled, narrowed 

 into a long slender style, deeply divided at the 

 apex into two broad, purple stigmas. Ovules two 

 in each cell. 



F7'7iit. — Samaras, borne in panicles. Oblong- 

 linear, an inch to an inch and a half long. Body 

 surrounded by the wing, which is emarginate at 

 apex. Seed solitary by abortion. September, 

 October. Cotyledons elliptical. 



The Black Ash is the slenderest of our 

 forest trees, often reaching the height of 

 seventy feet with a trunk whose diameter 

 scarcely exceeds a foot. It is the most 

 northern of American ashes flourishing on 

 the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



Its inflorescence is polygamous, that is, 

 staminate, pistillate, and perfect flowers may 

 all be found on a single tree, although usual- 

 ly the staminate flowers are borne on a sep- 

 arate tree. In this species the flower is reduced to its lowest 

 terms. Both calyx and corolla are wanting. 

 Many flowers consist simply of two stamens 

 sitting on the top of the flower stem, others 

 are only a pistil. 



The Black Ash may be known among 

 other ashes by the fact that its leaflets are 

 sessile with the exception of the terminal 

 one. Its samaras differ from those of the 

 White Ash in that the wing entirely sur- 

 rounds the body. The taste of the seed is 

 aromatic. 



The wood is remarkable for its toughness 

 and elasticity. The Indians especially used 

 it in the manufacture of baskets, preferring 

 it to every other. The trunk is often disfig- 

 ured by knobs which are sometimes taken off and made into 

 bowls which when polished show very odd undulations of 



220 



Samaras of Black Ash, 

 Fraxinus nigra. 



