WAFER ASH 



downy beneath. Autumnal tints are scarlet touched with yel- 

 low. Two stout prickles are on the stem just below the clusters 

 of leaves and flowers. 



Flowers. — April, May, before or with the leaves. Dioecious, 

 small, greenish white, borne in short umbels in the axils of the 

 leaves. Sepals four to live or obsolete ; petals five ; stamens 

 four to live : pistils two to five, with slender styles slightly 

 united. Capsules ellipsoid, thick and fleshy, on short stalks, 

 two-valved, one to two-seeded ; seeds black, smooth, shining. 



The common name of Prickly Ash explains itself; 

 the stem of the shrub is prickly and its leaves resem- 

 ble those of the ashes. There the likeness ceases. 

 The small greenish flowers are inconspicuous and 

 appear early. All parts of the shrub are pungent 

 and aromatic ; when the leaves are crushed they yield 

 a strong lemon-like odor. 



WAFER ASH. HOP-TREE 



Ptelea trifoliata. 



Ptelea, the Greek name of the elm-tree, transferred to this 

 genus because of the similarity of the fruits. Wafer refers 

 to the size and shape of the fruit. Hop re- 

 calls the fact that the leaves have been sub- 

 stituted for hops in the making of beer. 



The Wafer Ash, though small, is 

 arborescent in habit and properly de- 

 scribed as a tree ; but it consorts with 

 the shrubs and is grouped with them samaras of the Wafer 

 for landscape effects. The green flow- 

 ers, though abundant, are inconspicuous and the plant 

 does not become noticeable before midsummer ; then 

 he winged seed vessels mature and form great green- 



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