FOREST TREES. 89 
becomes rare. It is a large tree, growing sixty or 
seventy feet high, with a diameter of two feet or 
more. It is easily distinguished from other species 
by the quadrangular shape of the young shoots. The 
bark on old trees is not like that of White Ash, 
deeply furrowed, and divided into small squares. 
The wood of the Blue Ash is not inferior to that 
of any other species in the qualities which characterize 
the genus, and possesses one advantage over them all 
—that of greater durability when exposed to the 
alternations of dryness and moisture. This has been 
satisfactorily proved in its use for posts, stakes, and 
the rails of rural fences. In the regions where it 
grows, it is extensively employed for the same purposes 
as the White Ash. It was formerly much used for 
the flooring of houses. Michaux says that he was 
informed that a blue color could be extracted from 
the inner bark. If this be true, it is probably the 
origin of the name. As an ornamental tree, it is 
equal in beauty to any other species of the genus. 
As the Blue Ash belongs naturally to a more 
southern climate than the White Ash, its cultivation 
may be recommended in preference to the latter, south 
of latitude 40. It may probably be successfully 
planted further north than its native localities where 
the soil is fertile. It is propagated in the same manner 
as the White Ash. 
3. Fraxinus sambucifolia—Black Ash. 
Branchlets and petioles, glabrous; leaflets, seven 
to eleven, sessile, oblong-lanceolate, tapering to a 
8* 
