866 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



1. Var. monophylla, O. Kuntze, Flora von Leipzig, 82 (1867). 



Fraxinus monophylla, Desfontaines, Tab. de PEcole de Bot. 52 (1804). 



Fraxinus heterophylla, Vahl. Enum. PL i. 53 (1804); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. ii. 1228 (1838). 



Fraxinus simplidfolia, Willdenow, Sp. PI. iv. 1098 (1805). 



Fraxinus excelsior, var. diversifolia, Alton, Hort. Kew. iii. 445 (1789). 



This remarkable variety, which is usually known as the laurel-leaved or simple- 

 leaved ash, is met with in the wild state in the forests near Nancy in France, and 

 also rarely in England and Ireland. It appears ^ occasionally when a quantity of ash 

 seeds is sown, and intermediate forms are found with three, five, and seven leaflets. 

 The shoots and buds are identical with those of the common ash. In the ordinary 

 form of the variety, the leaf (Plate 262, Fig. 2) is simple, not being divided into 

 leaflets. Occasionally there is a large leaflet, with one or two small leaflets at its 

 base ; and this form is known as var. monophylla laciniata. The simple - leaved 

 form or the terminal leaflet in the two- to three-leaflet form, has a stalk about half 

 as long as the blade or a little longer, and is variable in shape, being usually oval in 

 outline with an obtuse, acute, or acuminate apex ; margin coarsely serrate ; lower 

 surface pubescent except towards the apex ; petiole widely grooved on its upper 

 side. A form of the single - leaved ash with variegated leaves, was discovered, 

 according to Loudon, in 1830 at Eglantine, near Hillsborough, Co. Down, Ireland. 



The simple-leaved ash is very distinct in appearance and thrives well in towns. 

 It is usually propagated by grafting. 



At Beauport, Sussex, there is a tree of this kind, 70 feet by 5 feet 9 inches ; 

 and self-sown seedlings reproducing the variety have been observed by us there. 

 Other large specimens occur : at Syon, a tree ' 84 feet by 7 feet 6 inches ; at Sidmouth, 

 measured by Miss Wool ward in 1904, two trees 9 feet 4 inches each in girth, the 

 taller being 86 feet high ; also three good trees in the grounds at Woburn growing 

 beside the lake. Lord Kesteven reports one at Stubton Hall, Newark, which was 67 

 feet high by 8 feet i inch in girth in 1906. Elwes has seen others from 50 to 70 feet 

 high at Scampston Hall, Yorkshire ; at Sharpham, near Totnes ; and at Dodington 

 Park, Gloucestershire. A tree at Oxford, near the east end of the broad walk in 

 Christchurch meadow, mentioned by Walker » in 1833, is, according to Mr. Druce, 

 about 65 feet high and 4 feet 7 inches in girth. It is crowded by other trees and is 

 not thriving. 



On the Pitfour estate near Mintlaw in Aberdeenshire, a tree 55 feet high by 

 7 feet 9 inches is reported by Mr. Ainslie ; and Elwes saw one at Gordon Castle, 

 which in July 1907 was covered with fruit and measured about 60 feet by 9 

 feet 2 inches in girth. 



There is a very good specimen in Stephen's Green, Dublin ; one at Beauparc 

 House in Co. Meath measured, in 1905, 40 feet high by 6 feet 2 inches in girth ; 

 and another at Curraghmore, Co. Waterford, was 50 feet by 5 feet in 1907. 



2. Var. rotundifolia. A tree growing in a wood at Strete Ralegh, near Exeter, 



'a^iu^''*'^"' ^^'"'" ^'"'"''^"' =^41 (1897), and M/g-em. Gartm-Zdtung, iii. 6 (cited by Loudon). 

 Ihis tree m 1849 was 50 feet high by 4 feet in girth ; it is now beginning to decay at the top. 

 Flora of Oxfordshire, 3 (1833). Cf. also Dyer, \i,Joum. Bot. ix. 147 (1871) 



