Olive family 



side is a hall where dwell three maidens, Norns — Urd the 

 past, Verdandi the present, Skuld the future — the Scandina- 

 vian Fates who direct and sway the destinies of men. 



The second root reaches Jotunheim the abode of the 

 Giants and by its side is Mimir's spring within whose depths 

 wit and knowledge lie hidden ; the third strikes deep into 

 Niflheim the region of darkness and cold. The spring here 

 feeds the serpent Nithhoggr, Darkness, which perpetually 

 gnaws at the root. 



The leaves of the tree drop honey, and upon the topmost 

 branch sits an eagle who observes all that goes on in the 

 world. A squirrel, Ratatoskr, runs up and down along the 

 trunk and branches bearing messages between the eagle 

 and the serpent and stirring up strife between them. Four 

 stags run back and forth among the branches and bite the 

 buds ; these are the four winds. 



Such is the fantastic story of the ash tree, for which there 

 is neither explanation nor reasonable interpretation. 



FRINGE-TREE 



Chiondnthus virginica. 



Chionanthits is of Greek derivation and refers to the snow white 

 flowers of the species. 



A slender tree twenty or thirty feet high ; at the north a shrub of 

 several, thick, spreading stems. Commonly planted on lawns and 

 parks. Ornamental. Roots fibrous. Ranges from Pennsylvania 

 to Florida, westward through the Gulf states to Texas, Arkansas and 

 Kansas. 



Bark. — Brown, tinged with red, scaly. Branchlets terete, light 

 green, downy, at first ; later they become light brown or orange 

 color. 



Wood. — Light brown, sapwood paler brown ; heavy, hard, close- 

 grained. 



Winter Buds. — Light brown, ovate, acute, one-eighth of an inch 

 long. Outer scales fall when spring growth begins, inner scales en- 

 large with the growing shoot and become leaf-like, an inch or more 

 in length. 



