THE ASH-LEAVED MAPLE AND THE ASHES. 245 



West * It rarely attains a height of more than 30 or 

 35 feet. Its beautiful deep-green leaves, nearly the 

 same color on either side, make it a handsome and 

 ornamental tree deserving more extensive cultivation, 

 partic- 

 ularly 



as it is a rap- 

 id grower. In 

 the Western cit- 

 ies it is common 

 streets and parks. 



Blue Ash. '^^^ 



Fraxinus ash is distiu- 



^ " gmshed by its 



rather square branchlets, at 

 least on young and vigorous 

 shoots, so says Gray ; but I 

 do not find that the average 

 blue ash tree has this marked 



characteristic ; of course, this is due to the fact that 

 the older branchlets have become round. The blue 

 ash is a large Western species which grows from 60 

 to YO feet, and sometimes 100 or even 120 feet high. 



* East of the Mississippi Kiver the red and green ashes grow 

 side by side, and retain their individual character ; but in the 

 West they are connected by intermediate forms which can be re- 

 ferred to one as well as the other. — Silva of North America, C. S. 

 Sargent. 



ir 



Blue Ash, with seed twisted 

 one quarter of the way 

 around. 



